skimmington

noun

skim·​ming·​ton

ˈskimiŋtən

plural -s

1

: one publicly impersonating and ridiculing a henpecked or cuckolded husband or his shrewish or unfaithful wife

2

dialectal, England : a boisterous procession intended to ridicule an unfaithful spouse or a shrewish wife often with effigies and a mock serenade

Word History

Etymology

skimming (from gerund of skim entry 1) + -ton (as in surnames such as Washington); from the practice of representing the woman as beating her husband with a skimming ladle

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