grandmother
/ˈɡran(d)mʌðə
/noun
The mother of one’s father or mother: my grandmother is ill [as name]: to dearest Grandmother, with love and gratitude [as title]: Grandmother Asha...
- Yes, women's liberation has given us choices that our grandmothers and even mothers could only dream of, but it has its downside too.
- There were young mothers and grandmothers, all fussing over their children.
- Some of my friends and patients nostalgically recall spending happy days off school with mothers and grandmothers.
Synonyms
informal grandma, granny
in Russia babushka;
North American Jewish bubbie;
South African ouma;
Spanish abuela
British informal gran, nana, nan
North American informal gramma
Phrases
teach one's grandmother to suck eggs
Derivatives
grandmotherly
/ adjective ...- I can almost hear a grandmotherly voice telling me that it's no way to get rid of a cold.
- Then my grandmother, in true grandmotherly fashion, marched into her local bookseller and demanded to be told what the young people were reading these days.
- Barbara, meanwhile, came into her own at last as an extremely popular first lady who made the most of her grandmotherly image.