mother : Idioms & Phrases


den mother

  • noun someone who plays the role of a den mother
    • he serves as den mother to all the freshmen in this dormitory
    • she's the den mother to new secretaries
  • noun a woman who supervises a den of Cub Scouts
WordNet

earth mother

  • noun the earth conceived of as the female principle of fertility
WordNet

eel-mother

Eel"-moth`er noun
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) The eelpout.
Webster 1913

Foster mother

  • noun a woman who is a foster parent and raises another's child
    foster mother.
WordNet
  • a woman who takes a mother's place in the nurture and care of a child; a nurse.
Webster 1913

foster-mother

  • noun a woman who is a foster parent and raises another's child
    foster mother.
WordNet

great mother

  • noun great nature goddess of ancient Phrygia in Asia Minor; counterpart of Greek Rhea and Roman Ops
    Dindymene; Mater Turrita; Magna Mater; Cybele.
WordNet

mother board

  • noun the main circuit board for a computer
    CPU board.
WordNet

Mother Carey's chicken

  • noun medium-sized storm petrel
    Oceanites oceanicus; Mother Carey's chicken.
WordNet
  • (Zoöl.), any one of several species of small petrels, as the stormy petrel (Procellaria pelagica), and Leach's petrel (Oceanodroma leucorhoa), both of the Atlantic, and O. furcata of the North Pacific.
Webster 1913

Mother Carey's goose

  • (Zoöl.), the giant fulmar of the Pacific. See Fulmar.
Webster 1913

mother carey's hen

  • noun medium-sized storm petrel
    Oceanites oceanicus; Mother Carey's chicken.
WordNet

Mother cell

  • noun cell from which another cell of an organism (usually of a different sort) develops
    • a sperm cell develops from a sperm mother cell
WordNet
  • (Biol.), a cell which, by endogenous divisions, gives rise to other cells (daughter cells); a parent cell.
Webster 1913

Mother church

  • the original church; a church from which other churches have sprung; as, the mother church of a diocese.
Webster 1913

Mother country

  • noun the country where you were born
    motherland; country of origin; fatherland; homeland; native land.
WordNet
  • the country of one's parents or ancestors; the country from which the people of a colony derive their origin.
Webster 1913

mother figure

  • noun a woman who evokes the feelings usually reserved for a mother
WordNet

mother fucker

  • noun insulting terms of address for people who are stupid or irritating or ridiculous
    bastard; SOB; prick; motherfucker; whoreson; dickhead; son of a bitch; asshole; cocksucker; shit.
WordNet

mother goose

  • noun the imaginary author of a collection of nursery rhymes
WordNet

mother hen

  • noun a person who cares for the needs of others (especially in an overprotective or interfering way)
  • noun a hen with chicks
WordNet

mother hubbard

  • noun a woman's loose unbelted dress
    muumuu.
WordNet

mother jones

  • noun United States labor leader (born in Ireland) who helped to found the Industrial Workers of the World (1830-1930)
    Jones; Mary Harris Jones.
WordNet

Mother liquor

  • (Chem.), the impure or complex residual solution which remains after the salts readily or regularly crystallizing have been removed.
Webster 1913

mother lode

  • noun the main vein of ore in a deposit
    champion lode.
WordNet

mother of thyme

  • noun fragrant European mint having clusters of small violet-and-white flowers; naturalized especially in eastern North America
    basil thyme; Satureja acinos; Acinos arvensis; basil balm.
WordNet

Mother queen

  • the mother of a reigning sovereign; a queen mother.
Webster 1913

mother seton

  • noun United States religious leader who was the first person born in the United States to be canonized (1774-1821)
    Elizabeth Seton; Seton; Saint Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton.
WordNet

mother superior

  • noun the superior of a group of nuns
    prioress; abbess.
WordNet

mother teresa

  • noun Indian nun and missionary in the Roman Catholic Church (born of Albanian parents in what is now Macedonia); dedicated to helping the poor in India (1910-1997)
    Mother Teresa; Teresa; Theresa; Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu.
WordNet

mother theresa

  • noun Indian nun and missionary in the Roman Catholic Church (born of Albanian parents in what is now Macedonia); dedicated to helping the poor in India (1910-1997)
    Mother Teresa; Teresa; Theresa; Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu.
WordNet

Mother tongue

  • noun one's native language; the language learned by children and passed from one generation to the next
    first language; maternal language.
WordNet
  • . (a) A language from which another language has had its origin . (b) The language of one's native land; native tongue.
Webster 1913

Mother water

  • . See Mother liquor (above).
Webster 1913

Mother wit

  • noun sound practical judgment
    gumption; horse sense; good sense; sense; common sense.
    • Common sense is not so common
    • he hasn't got the sense God gave little green apples
    • fortunately she had the good sense to run away
WordNet
  • natural or native wit or intelligence.
Webster 1913

mother's boy

  • noun a boy excessively attached to his mother; lacking normal masculine interests
    mamma's boy; mama's boy.
WordNet

mother's daughter

  • noun a daughter who is favored by and similar to her mother
WordNet

mother's day

  • noun second Sunday in May
WordNet

Mother's mark

  • (Med.), a congenital mark upon the body; a nævus.
Webster 1913

mother's milk

  • noun milk secreted by a woman who has recently given birth
WordNet

mother's son

  • noun a male person
    • every mother's son who could walk was there
WordNet

mother-in-law

  • noun the mother of your spouse
WordNet
Moth"er-in-law` noun
Definitions
  1. The mother of one's husband or wife.
Webster 1913

mother-in-law plant

  • noun an evergreen plant with large showy dark green leaves; contains a poison that swells the tongue and throat hence the name
    dumb cane; Dieffenbachia sequine; mother-in-law plant.
WordNet

mother-in-law's tongue

  • noun stemless plant having narrow rigid leaves often cultivated as a houseplant
    Sansevieria trifasciata; snake plant.
  • noun an evergreen plant with large showy dark green leaves; contains a poison that swells the tongue and throat hence the name
    dumb cane; Dieffenbachia sequine; mother-in-law plant.
WordNet

mother-naked

  • adjective satellite as naked as at birth
    in one's birthday suit; in your birthday suit; naked as the day you were born; naked as the day one was born.
WordNet
Moth"er-na`ked adjective
Definitions
  1. Naked as when born.
Webster 1913

mother-of-pearl

  • noun the iridescent internal layer of a mollusk shell
    nacre.
WordNet
Moth"er-of-pearl` noun
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) The hard pearly internal layer of several kinds of shells, esp. of pearl oysters, river mussels, and the abalone shells; nacre. See Pearl.
Webster 1913

mother-of-pearl cloud

  • noun a luminous iridescent cloud at a high altitude that may be seen when the sun is a few degrees below the horizon
    nacreous cloud.
WordNet

mother-of-thousands

  • noun eastern Asiatic saxifrage with racemes of small red-and-white flowers; spreads by numerous creeping stolons
    strawberry saxifrage; Saxifraga sarmentosam; Saxifraga stolonifera; strawberry geranium.
WordNet

mother-of-thyme

Moth"er-of-thyme` noun
Definitions
  1. (Bot.) An aromatic plant (Thymus Serphyllum); -- called also wild thyme.
Webster 1913

Queen mother

  • noun a queen dowager who is mother of the reigning sovereign
WordNet
  • a queen dowager who is also mother of the reigning king or queen.
Webster 1913

spore mother cell

  • noun cell from which a spore develops
WordNet

surrogate mother

  • noun a woman who bears a child for a couple where the wife is unable to do so
    • a surrogate mother is artificially inseminated with the father's semen and carries the fetus to term
WordNet

To be tied to a wife's or mother's apron strings

  • to be unduly controlled by a wife or mother.
Webster 1913