an 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:
  • 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 periodicals archive
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 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
"Listen," said an old dear, lying down "I've just booked me and my man on separate holidays." She was asked did she really know him that well?
It's our party and we'll lie (down) if we want to
At the till was an old dear who was getting a little distressed because she'd forgotten her PIN.
Good Samaritan
An old dear called Baron Dear, 85, rabbited on about Humpty Dumpty.
Cracking the whip
But on the bright side, being an old dear in a population full of old dears could be a very different world.
No one wants to boldly go..if they can at all help it
An old dear who manages to squeak through the test at 70 might be totally unfit to get behind the wheel just a couple of years later.
Elderly motorists should face annual driving test
As I entertained my two-year-old with a rendition of I'm A Little Teapot, an old dear swam past and said to Sophie: "Your grandpa's some singer..."
MOOBS NOT FYNE
As the driver started putting an old dear's messages into the boot, he was approached by two angry women who said: "We were here first.
Taxi tale leaves two red faces
Unless my eyes are going, all I could see was an old dear tending her roses.
MAN OF THE PEOPLE: Queen
BEING an old dear of 75, I watched with great interest a TV documentary about how the children of the Forties and Fifties passed their time.
Letter: Your view - Changed days
"How ridiculous," Princess Anne once said to an old dear who'd driven halfway across the land to hand a bunch of flowers to the Queen Mum.
Brian Reade: MA'AMYDEAREST .
Patients included a man who fell down stairs drunk, a smoker with chest pains and an old dear with a reputation for being a nuisance.
LAST NIGHT'S VIEW: A & E
During one driving test he almost knocked over an old dear on a zebra crossing.
Who the L is this motormouth?