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maiden

maiden

1 8.7
An over in cricket when the batting team scores no runs
  • noun
  • /ˈmeɪdən/
  • UK
: over en blanco
  • And my maiden name was another Italian surname that I felt wouldn't do.

Examples

  • The bowler achieved a remarkable feat by delivering a maiden over, preventing any runs from being scored.

  • Walter, I’m thinking about going back to my maiden name.

  • Do we know the girl's maiden name?

  • Then I will tell you her Christian and her maiden name.

  • "You never told me her maiden name, did you?"

    Fiction book (2001)
  • My mom died and I moved away from the Keys... changed my name, took her maiden name.

  • I know my mother's maiden name just as well as he did.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Jensen was her married name; her maiden name was Rose.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • Mrs. Andrews' maiden name was Bourgeois.

  • Mrs. Armstrong's maiden name was Greenwood.

Synonyms

maiden over
vsmaiden
  • UK
9.8

One set of six balls in cricket when the batting team scores no runs

has identical meaning but is the shorter single word form

Compounds

44 3.1

A woman's last name before she marries

10 4.9

A first trip by a new ship or plane after it is built

maiden aunt
  • Archaic
2 7.2

A parent's sister who never married

2 9.9

An iron box shaped like a person with spikes inside that causes great pain or death

The first time a new plane, rocket, or vehicle goes into the air

ice maiden
  • Offensive
1 8.8

A woman who seems cold and shows little feeling

1 9.1

A small low plant with pale pink flowers and dark centers

A small wildflower with tiny blue and white flowers that grows in western North America

9.8

One set of six balls in cricket when the batting team scores no runs

Surface Forms

maiden singular
maidens plural

Etymology

A helpful way to remember the cricket use of maiden is to think of maiden voyage, where 'maiden' means 'first' or 'untouched'. A maiden over is an over 'untouched by runs' with no runs scored.