Mother Hubbard

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English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
Tahitian girls in their unadorned Mother Hubbards between 1880 and 1889.

Etymology

From "Old Mother Hubbard", a nursery rhyme.

Noun

Mother Hubbard (plural Mother Hubbards)

  1. (fashion) A long, wide, loose gown with long sleeves and a high neck originally introduced by Christian missionaries as an adaptation of 19th-century European fashion to Polynesia but subsequently inclusive of lighter and more colorful variations.
    • 1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “chapter 49”, in The Moon and Sixpence, : Grosset & Dunlap Publishers , →OCLC:
      Her arms were like legs of mutton, her breasts like giant cabbages; her face, broad and fleshy, gave you an impression of almost indecent nakedness, and vast chin succeeded to vast chin. I do not know how many of them there were. They fell away voluminously into the capaciousness of her bosom. She was dressed usually in a pink Mother Hubbard, and she wore all day long a large straw hat.

Synonyms

Translations

Adjective

Mother Hubbard (comparative more Mother Hubbard, superlative most Mother Hubbard)

  1. (colloquial) Empty
    • 2012, Cecil Castellucci, Beige‎, page 24:
      "Other than my earthquake kit, the cupboards are looking pretty Mother Hubbard. We can go to the Farmers Market and get some produce."
    • 2013, Colum McCann, TransAtlantic‎:
      "It's a bit Mother Hubbard, I'm afraid.'" We made our way through the empty house.
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