Fairmaid
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A mermaid from a blackwater creek or river.
"I go down to the punt-trench and I beg the water people. Help me, I say. I throw eggs — fresh eggs — in the black water. It was to feed the fairmaids."
- 2 A smoked or salted pilchard.
"The low prices which fish have been bringing of late years is a serious matter for those who prosecute the fisheries to look in the face. Has the taste for fairmaids died out with the Italians, or are they being supplied from other countries ?"
- 3 Synonym of snowdrop. often
"Fairmaid is a soft pink flower, very pleasing."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"I go down to the punt-trench and I beg the water people. Help me, I say. I throw eggs — fresh eggs — in the black water. It was to feed the fairmaids."
Etymology
From fair + maid.
Corruption of Spanish fumado.
More for "fairmaid"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.