Cinderella

proper noun

1. 1

   A popular fairy tale embodying a classic folk tale myth-element of unjust oppression and triumphant reward.

2. 2

   The main character in this story, a mistreated and impoverished girl.

   The girls look like Southern belles or Cinderellas. The prom’s theme is Cinderellian: “Until Midnight.” Little, clear slippers sit on the 30 cloth- and candle-covered tables on the tarp-covered gymnasium floor.

   Womanly duties, as Joan thought of them, were fine for girls who imagined themselves as Cinderellas or Sleeping Beauties, good girls rewarded for menial housework and, in the case of Sleeping Beauty, a passivity so profound it was deaf, dumb, blind, and comatose.

   All the miniature Cinderellas, Belles, and Ariels who fill the streets every Halloween are essentially paying homage to characters that will slowly and inevitably chip away at their sense of worth in years to come.

3. 3

   rareA female given name originating as a coinage.

noun

1. 1

   figurativeA mistreated and impoverished girl.

2. 2

   Something rising unexpectedly from obscurity to success, as a Cinderella team.

3. 3

   Something neglected and denied resources, as a Cinderella service.

   Cinderella State

   The Cinderella of the present trio is the Freshwater, which is laid up in the winter months, when one or other of her ugly sisters is sufficient to cope with the service.

   A very early example of this can be seen in the case of the Midland Main Line (MML). At the start of 1982, this was the Cinderella of the InterCity portfolio but building more High Speed Trains (HSTs) to replace 90mph trainsets was out of the question. During 1982-83, Bleasdale shuffled his HST pack by taking sets from the Eastern and Western Regions and allocated these to the MML.

   The West of England Line has long been a Cinderella railway. Decades of patch-and-mend underinvestment have resulted in consistently poor performance.

4. 4

   informalA procedure or surgery to reshape the feet.

   For Dr. Sadrieh (who was wearing made-to-order Gucci brogues), foot surgery is a fusion of medicine and fairy tale. At his practice, you don’t have a bunionectomy; you have a Cinderella procedure.

   By the mid-1930s prominent members of society, including the aristocracy, were paying hefty fees for this Cinderella surgery, correcting double chins, reshaping noses and smoothing wrinkles and creases, even having stomach tucks.

5. 5

   A stamp or stamp-like label issued for purposes other than postal administration, not issued by a central government, or not listed in most general catalogues.

6. 6

   rareA woman employed to clean, especially to remove ash from stoves and fireplaces.

Forms

plural

Cinderellas