Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Husband \Hus"band\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Husbanded}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Husbanding}.]
1. To direct and manage with frugality; to use or employ to
good purpose and the best advantage; to spend, apply, or
use, with economy.
For my means, I'll husband them so well, They shall
go far. --Shak.
2. To cultivate, as land; to till. [R.]
Land so trim and rarely husbanded. --Evelyn.
3. To furnish with a husband. [R.] --Shak.
Husband \Hus"band\, n. [OE. hosebonde, husbonde, a husband, the
master of the house or family, AS. h?sbonda master of the
house; h?s house + bunda, bonda, householder, husband; prob.
fr. Icel. h?sb[=o]ndi house master, husband; h?s house +
b?andi dwelling, inhabiting, p. pr. of b?a to dwell; akin to
AS. b?an, Goth. bauan. See {House Be}, and cf. {Bond} a
slave, {Boor}.]
1. The male head of a household; one who orders the economy
of a family. [Obs.]
2. A cultivator; a tiller; a husbandman. [Obs.] --Shak.
The painful husband, plowing up his ground.
--Hakewill.
He is the neatest husband for curious ordering his
domestic and field accommodations. --Evelyn.
3. One who manages or directs with prudence and economy; a
frugal person; an economist. [R.]
God knows how little time is left me, and may I be a
good husband, to improve the short remnant left me.
--Fuller.
4. A married man; a man who has a wife; -- the correlative to
wife.
The husband and wife are one person in law.
--Blackstone.
5. The male of a pair of animals. [R.] --Dryden.
{A ship's husband} (Naut.), an agent representing the owners
of a ship, who manages its expenses and receipts.
Source : WordNet®
husband
n : a married man; a woman's partner in marriage [syn: {hubby},
{married man}] [ant: {wife}]
husband
v : use cautiously and frugally; "I try to economize my spare
time"; "conserve your energy for the ascent to the
summit" [syn: {conserve}, {economize}, {economise}] [ant:
{waste}]