house-wife

Noun

housewife (plural housewives or housewifes)

1. (plural "housewives") A woman whose main employment is homemaking, maintaining the upkeep of her home and tending to household affairs; often, such a woman whose sole [unpaid] employment is homemaking.
   • Mr Torture sells pain / To the housewives in Spain / He knows just what they crave / Mr Torture2000, Uli Kusch, "Mr. Torture", Helloween, The Dark Ride

   Synonyms:

   henhussy

2. (plural "housewives") The wife of a householder; the mistress of a family; the female head of a household.
3. (plural "housewifes") A little case or bag for materials used in sewing, and for other articles of female work.
   • It was a housewife, containing needles, a bodkin, and thread; ‘and, do you know,’ added he, ‘it was the most useful thing she could have given me, for it lasted all the time I was at Rome to mend my clothes with […].’1828, JT Smith, Nollekens and His Times, Century Hutchinson, published 1986, page 246

   Synonyms:

   hussy

4. (obsolete, plural "housewives") A worthless woman; a hussy.