1. a woman bound by a legal agreement or contract, especially one who is enslaved or in servitude
Usage: historical or literary context; often used in reference to slavery or indentured servitude
2. a woman who acts as a surety or guarantor for another person's debt or obligation
Usage: legal or formal context

Examples

• In colonial times, many bondswomen worked on plantations under harsh conditions.
• The bondswoman pledged her labor for seven years in exchange for passage to the New World.
• She served as a bondswoman, guaranteeing her brother's loan to the merchant.
• The novel depicts the struggles of a bondswoman seeking freedom.
• Legal documents identified her status as a bondswoman bound to the estate.
• As a bondswoman, she had limited rights and freedoms under the law.