1. plural of mammy; informal term for mothers or maternal figures
Usage: informal
2. wet nurses or nannies, especially in historical contexts
Usage: historical; sometimes offensive

Examples

• The children called out for their mammies when they got scared.
• In the old plantation system, mammies often cared for the master’s children.
• The little ones ran to their mammies after the thunderstorm.
• Historical records mention mammies who raised multiple generations of families.
• The mammies in the neighborhood organized a playgroup for the toddlers.
• She studied the role of mammies in 19th-century American households.