English Explanatory Dictionary

Magdalene laundry

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A religious facility in which prostitutes and unmarried mothers were kept, usually against their will, as a source of forced labour to launder clothes.

Word forms

Magdalene laundry Magdalene laundries

Etymology

Named after Mary Magdalene, traditionally associated with prostitution and patron saint of penitent sinners.

Synonyms

Magdalene asylum
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