old dear

old dear

An old lady. That poor old dear can't remember much these days, but she's a real sweetheart.
See also: dear, old
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

an old ˈdear

(informal) an old woman: And then this old dear came in looking very ill, so I asked the doctor to see her before the other patients.
See also: dear, old
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • an old dear
  • any old
  • an old one
  • an old bag
  • dear me
  • Dear me!
  • an old bat
  • be (as) old as the hills
  • dear to (one's) heart
  • at a/the ripe old age
References in classic literature
The doctors say that it is all up with the old dear unless some food is got into him, but as he lies in bed with a revolver on his coverlet, and swears he will put six of the best through anyone that comes near him, there's been a bit of a strike among the serving-men.
If we can get his bolster-cover round his arms and then 'phone up a stomach-pump, we'll give the old dear the supper of his life."
The Lost World
grass when you get near Challenger, for this young fellah and I have a bit of a weakness for the old dear."
The Poison Belt
Raffles, you know); and the old dear WILL wear them every night.
The Amateur Cracksman
My old dear bedroom was changed, and I was to lie a long way off.
David Copperfield
"Yes, yes, no doubt," she replied tastily; ,"but there are wakeful old dears to be had, and on a box they are preferable."
Elizabeth and her German Garden
Four representatives each of the interwar generation and the wartime generation present such perspectives as I never stopped learning all by life, rushing about, life is better than I could ever have imagined, and an apprentice old dear. (Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR)
Growing Old with the Welfare State: Eight British Lives
How come they didn't ban Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer which is about someone, probably drunk, killing an old dear while riding an actual deer.
Baby it's just a complete overreaction
In Europe, women dress how they want, regardless of their age but in this country, they are expected to don an "old dear" uniform.
Mirren still has bags of style and always will
In fact, when I first moved there, while waiting for a bus into town, an old dear who spoke to me remarked that she had lived in Penshaw for more than 60 years and only recently found out that there were houses and a village over the Herrington Country Park and this was down to the old pit-heap, which went when Herrington Country Park was created some years ago.
Beauty spot is under threat; Letters
As the poor old dear abandoned by EasyJet staff at Edinburgh Airport found out last week, a wheelchair becomes an invisibility machine.
Uphill battle was comical but not funny
A group of us went into a sweetie shop to build up our tuck shop supplies, but the little old dear behind the counter wouldn't serve us as she said she didn't accept foreign currency!" Moira Hill: "I went straight to Candyjoys and bought some Blackjacks and some Fruit Salads.
TWEETS & POSTS
There follows all the usual twists and turns that Christie can imagine, and I kept wondering how this old dear in a floppy brown hat could help the local plod sort it out, especially as veteran actress Judy Cornwell was less than convincing as Miss Marple, the old sleuth.
REVIEW; A MURDER IS ANNOUNCED GRAND THEATRE, WOLVERHAMPTON
A young couple arrives at a bed-and-breakfast in Gettysburg, Penn., run by an eccentric old dear with a creepy doll collection.
John
That when you cowardly mug an old dear, The trauma, the damage you cause them, combined with the terror, and fear, Those frail defenceless old people, May have fought in the Second World War, To give you the freedom you flout, With no respect for any British law.
Your Poem; What goes around