Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Husband?

\Hus"band\, n. [OE. hosebonde, husbonde, a husband, the master of the house or family, AS. h?sbonda master of the house; h?s house + bunda, bonda, householder, husband; prob. fr. Icel. h?sb[=o]ndi house master, husband; h?s house + b?andi dwelling, inhabiting, p. pr. of b?a to dwell; akin to AS. b?an, Goth. bauan. See {House Be}, and cf. {Bond} a slave, {Boor}.] 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. {A ship's husband} (Naut.), an agent representing the owners of a ship, who manages its expenses and receipts.
\Hus"band\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Husbanded}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Husbanding}.] 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.