husband Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a married man; a woman's partner in marriage
    married man; hubby.
  2. verb use cautiously and frugally
    economize; conserve; economise.
    • I try to economize my spare time
    • conserve your energy for the ascent to the summit

WordNet

Hus"band noun
Etymology
OE. hosebonde, husbonde, a husband, the master of the house or family, AS. hsbonda master of the house; hs house + bunda, bonda, householder, husband; prob. fr. Icel. hsbondi house master, husband; hs house + bandi dwelling, inhabiting, p.pr. of ba to dwell; akin to AS. ban, Goth. bauan. See House Be, and cf. Bond a slave, Boor.
Definitions
  1. The male head of a household; one who orders the economy of a family. Obs.
  2. A cultivator; a tiller; a husbandman. Obs. Shak.
    The painful husband, plowing up his ground. Hakewill.
    He is the neatest husband for curious ordering his domestic and field accommodations. Evelyn.
  3. One who manages or directs with prudence and economy; a frugal person; an economist. R.
    God knows how little time is left me, and may I be a good husband, to improve the short remnant left me. Fuller.
  4. A married man; a man who has a wife; -- the correlative to wife.
    The husband and wife are one person in law. Blackstone.
  5. The male of a pair of animals. R. Dryden.
Hus"band transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Husbanded; present participle & verbal noun Husbanding
Definitions
  1. To direct and manage with frugality; to use or employ to good purpose and the best advantage; to spend, apply, or use, with economy.
    For my means, I'll husband them so well, They shall go far. Shak.
  2. To cultivate, as land; to till. R.
    Land so trim and rarely husbanded. Evelyn.
  3. To furnish with a husband. R. Shak.

Webster 1913