Definitions
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a disease caused by deficiency of niacin or tryptophan (or by a defect in the metabolic conversion of tryptophan to niacin); characterized by gastrointestinal disturbances and erythema and nervous or mental disorders; may be caused by malnutrition or alcoholism or other nutritional impairments
Etymologies
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Examples
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"It's nothing but a chronic case of old-maidism," said father impatiently.
Chronicles of Avonlea Lucy Maud 1912
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But one can never reckon with real, bred-in-the bone old-maidism.
Chronicles of Avonlea Lucy Maud 1912
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"It's nothing but a chronic case of old-maidism," said father impatiently.
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There was, indeed, a danger -- his seniors said so -- of his developing into a regular "Auntie Fuss" of an adjutant, and when an officer once takes to old-maidism there is more hope for the virgin of seventy than for him.
The Day's Work - Volume 1 Rudyard Kipling 1900
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Nothing but solitary old-maidism, unless two of you happen to be sisters, for who else will join her shame to yours?
The Christian A Story Hall Caine 1892
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It was considered as carrying old-maidism to an extreme length.
The Burial of the Guns Thomas Nelson Page 1887
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There was one thing about her which excited much talk; I suppose it was only a piece of old-maidism.
The Burial of the Guns Thomas Nelson Page 1887
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The state of old maidism was reached at a very early age in those early days; Higginson wrote of an "antient maid" of twenty-five years.
Customs and Fashions in Old New England Alice Morse Earle 1881
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He supports her, and she has escaped the obloquy of old-maidism.
Not Pretty, but Precious Harriet Elizabeth Prescott Spofford 1878
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So she thrusts the burden of her sins upon other people's shoulders, and travels the first stage to captious and disappointed old-maidism.
Aurora Floyd. A Novel Mary Elizabeth 1863
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