Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A female giant or monster in legends and fairy tales that eats humans.
  • noun A woman who is considered cruel or ugly.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A female ogre.
  • noun In heraldry, a roundel sable.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A female ogre.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A female ogre
  • noun A fierce, unfriendly woman.
  • noun heraldry A roundel sable.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun (folklore) a female ogre

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

ogre +‎ -ess

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French ogoesse

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Examples

  • She, believing it was her mother (for she called the ogress mother), lowered her tresses, and the prince climbed boldly up.

    Italian Popular Tales Thomas Frederick Crane

  • (I.F.T. 175-176, 51.) (6) Other malignant actions: ogress is a witch and deceives heroine by tricks; has her seven human co-wives blinded; tries to destroy her stepson by tricks; tries to drag hero into the glittering well; ogress gambles with hero and first wins his companions, his hawk, and himself, but subsequently loses her dog, her hawk, and hero to hero's brother; [variant told in Legends of the Panjâb].

    Tales of the Punjab 1894

  • O.D.D. 40.) (4) Do domestic service: ogress is a maid.

    Tales of the Punjab 1894

  • Dr. Johnson, who seems to have regarded her as nothing better than a kind of ogress, tells us, in so many words, that "Lady Macbeth is merely detested."

    Characteristics of Women Moral, Poetical, and Historical 1827

  • My mother, as well as an ogress, was a Nevada book-canvasser.

    CHAPTER III 2010

  • As a last resort, Jane made an appointment to see Mrs. Ruth B. Shipley, the ogress in charge of the Passport Division of the State Department, described by Time magazine in 1951 as “the most unfirable, most feared” woman in government.

    A Covert Affair Jennet Conant 2011

  • As a last resort, Jane made an appointment to see Mrs. Ruth B. Shipley, the ogress in charge of the Passport Division of the State Department, described by Time magazine in 1951 as “the most unfirable, most feared” woman in government.

    A Covert Affair Jennet Conant 2011

  • Donkey is a pack mule, Puss In Boots is an overweight house cat and Fiona is an outlaw ogress.

    2010 Summer Movie Preview – Part 1: The Month of May 2010

  • I did object to the fact that local bloggers were more upset by the supposed ogress 'insensitive comment than the proposed ordinance.

    Your Right Hand Thief 2008

  • Crunch grimaced, and this time not even an ogress would have mistaken his ire.

    Falcon Street 2010

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