"iron lady" meaning in English

See iron lady in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: iron ladies [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun}} iron lady (plural iron ladies)
  1. A strong-willed and unrelenting female leader. Categories (topical): Female people
    Sense id: en-iron_lady-en-noun-Qb4gsQr5 Disambiguation of Female people: 85 6 9
  2. Alternative form of iron maiden Tags: alt-of, alternative Alternative form of: iron maiden
    Sense id: en-iron_lady-en-noun-4Xk9w~oN
  3. (archaic) A sewing machine. Tags: archaic Categories (topical): Leaders, Personality
    Sense id: en-iron_lady-en-noun-VjudXkaL Disambiguation of Leaders: 13 27 60 Disambiguation of Personality: 11 34 56 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 7 28 65

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for iron lady meaning in English (4.3kB)

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "iron ladies",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "iron lady (plural iron ladies)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "85 6 9",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Female people",
          "orig": "en:Female people",
          "parents": [
            "Female",
            "People",
            "Gender",
            "Human",
            "Biology",
            "Psychology",
            "Sociology",
            "All topics",
            "Sciences",
            "Social sciences",
            "Fundamental",
            "Society"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2002 October, AM Lämsä, T Tiensuu, “Representations of the woman leader in Finnish business media articles”, in Business Ethics: A European Review",
          "text": "On the one hand, the patriarchal discourse constructs the identity of 'an iron lady' for the successful woman leader.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007, Laura Sjoberg, Caron E. Gentry, Mothers, Monsters, Whores: Women's Violence in Global Politics, page 156",
          "text": "Stories about Biljana Plavsic also contain the monster narrative. Emphasis on her toughness and her nickname 'iron lady' hint at a monster characterization, but these images are much more obvious in the emphasis on the view that Plavsic is lacking in mental balance.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2009, David P Forsythe, Encyclopedia of Human Rights - Volume 1, page 485",
          "text": "Del Ponte only takes the blame for the last incident, acknowledging that she realized too late that she had been played by the “iron lady” from Republica Srpska.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A strong-willed and unrelenting female leader."
      ],
      "id": "en-iron_lady-en-noun-Qb4gsQr5",
      "links": [
        [
          "strong-willed",
          "strong-willed"
        ],
        [
          "unrelenting",
          "unrelenting"
        ],
        [
          "female",
          "female"
        ],
        [
          "leader",
          "leader"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "iron maiden"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1908, James Henry Snowden, A Summer Across the Sea, page 80",
          "text": "It tried one's nerves to look on the rack that had pulled men to pieces, on the \"iron lady\" which opened in front and then embraced and crushed her victim with sharp spikes, and on the sword that had cut off hundreds of heads.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1952, Otto C. Lightner, Pearl Ann Reeder, Hobbies - Volume 57, Issues 1-8, page 40",
          "text": "In a castle dungeon in Nuremberg, Germany is a huge, medieval \"iron lady\" torture device. Shaped like a woman, the iron lady opens to reveal huge spikes, once used for torture and death.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, F.D. Land, Nightmares - Book 5, page 171",
          "text": "But the best torture of all was the iron lady; it was a box in the shape of a lady sitting down.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of iron maiden"
      ],
      "id": "en-iron_lady-en-noun-4Xk9w~oN",
      "links": [
        [
          "iron maiden",
          "iron maiden#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "alternative"
      ]
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    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "7 28 65",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
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            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "13 27 60",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Leaders",
          "orig": "en:Leaders",
          "parents": [
            "People",
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "11 34 56",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Personality",
          "orig": "en:Personality",
          "parents": [
            "Mind",
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1854, Charles Dickens, Household Words - Volume 8, page 576",
          "text": "In the delicate parts of work -- in those mysteries known to the erudite as flounces, gussets, frills, and tucks -- in the learned complications of the herringbone system, and the homely art of darning -- we imagine that the iron lady is not proficient.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1854, Country Gentleman - Volume 3, page 206",
          "text": "But, the iron lady's needle is not like the instrument of a flesh and blood seamstress.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2014, Taylor, American Geisha, page 22",
          "text": "Not only thin materials, but Johnny's jeans and corduroys, which the old iron lady used to chew up and swallow and then just moan and die on.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A sewing machine."
      ],
      "id": "en-iron_lady-en-noun-VjudXkaL",
      "links": [
        [
          "sewing machine",
          "sewing machine"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(archaic) A sewing machine."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "iron lady"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "en:Female people",
    "en:Leaders",
    "en:Personality"
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  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "iron ladies",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "iron lady (plural iron ladies)",
      "name": "en-noun"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
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  "senses": [
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      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2002 October, AM Lämsä, T Tiensuu, “Representations of the woman leader in Finnish business media articles”, in Business Ethics: A European Review",
          "text": "On the one hand, the patriarchal discourse constructs the identity of 'an iron lady' for the successful woman leader.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007, Laura Sjoberg, Caron E. Gentry, Mothers, Monsters, Whores: Women's Violence in Global Politics, page 156",
          "text": "Stories about Biljana Plavsic also contain the monster narrative. Emphasis on her toughness and her nickname 'iron lady' hint at a monster characterization, but these images are much more obvious in the emphasis on the view that Plavsic is lacking in mental balance.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2009, David P Forsythe, Encyclopedia of Human Rights - Volume 1, page 485",
          "text": "Del Ponte only takes the blame for the last incident, acknowledging that she realized too late that she had been played by the “iron lady” from Republica Srpska.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A strong-willed and unrelenting female leader."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "strong-willed",
          "strong-willed"
        ],
        [
          "unrelenting",
          "unrelenting"
        ],
        [
          "female",
          "female"
        ],
        [
          "leader",
          "leader"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "iron maiden"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1908, James Henry Snowden, A Summer Across the Sea, page 80",
          "text": "It tried one's nerves to look on the rack that had pulled men to pieces, on the \"iron lady\" which opened in front and then embraced and crushed her victim with sharp spikes, and on the sword that had cut off hundreds of heads.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1952, Otto C. Lightner, Pearl Ann Reeder, Hobbies - Volume 57, Issues 1-8, page 40",
          "text": "In a castle dungeon in Nuremberg, Germany is a huge, medieval \"iron lady\" torture device. Shaped like a woman, the iron lady opens to reveal huge spikes, once used for torture and death.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, F.D. Land, Nightmares - Book 5, page 171",
          "text": "But the best torture of all was the iron lady; it was a box in the shape of a lady sitting down.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of iron maiden"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "iron maiden",
          "iron maiden#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "alternative"
      ]
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      "categories": [
        "English terms with archaic senses",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1854, Charles Dickens, Household Words - Volume 8, page 576",
          "text": "In the delicate parts of work -- in those mysteries known to the erudite as flounces, gussets, frills, and tucks -- in the learned complications of the herringbone system, and the homely art of darning -- we imagine that the iron lady is not proficient.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1854, Country Gentleman - Volume 3, page 206",
          "text": "But, the iron lady's needle is not like the instrument of a flesh and blood seamstress.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2014, Taylor, American Geisha, page 22",
          "text": "Not only thin materials, but Johnny's jeans and corduroys, which the old iron lady used to chew up and swallow and then just moan and die on.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A sewing machine."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "sewing machine",
          "sewing machine"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(archaic) A sewing machine."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "iron lady"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.