Wench. n.s. [wencle, Saxon.]

1. A young woman.

   What do I, silly wench, know what love hath prepared for me? Sidney, b. ii.

   Now – how dost thou look now? Oh ill-starr'd wench!
   Pale as thy smock! when we shall meet at compt,
   This look of thine will hurl my soul from heav'n,
   And fiends will snatch at it. Cold, cold, my girl,
   Ev'n like thy chastity. Shakesp. Othello.

   Thou wouldst perswade her to a worse offence
   Than that, whereof thou didst accuse her wench. Donne.

2. A young woman in contempt; a strumpet.

   But the rude wench her answer'd nought at all. Spenser.

   Do not play in wench-like words with that
   Which is so serious. Shakesp. Cymbeline.

   Men have these ambitious fancies,
   And wanton wenches read romances. Prior.

3. A strumpet.

   It is not a digression to talk of bawds in a discourse upon wenches. Spectator, № 266.