Mother Hubbard
Empty.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“I looked in the fridge, but it was Mother Hubbard.”
“We wanted to make dinner, but the pantry was Mother Hubbard, so we had to order pizza.”
“Upon opening the cupboards to prepare a meal for his guests, he found them entirely Mother Hubbard, leaving him with no choice but to visit the market.”
From "Old Mother Hubbard", a nursery rhyme.
- 01
and his mother
Serves as an intensifier for an inclusive noun or phrase such as everyone, anyone, each someone or all someones.
- 02
be mother
To pour out tea for others.
- 03
black over Bill's mother's
Describing rain-bearing dark clouds on the horizon.
- 04
like mother, like daughter
A daughter takes after her mother.
- 05
mother hen
An outspoken and overprotective woman or person dealing with others' affairs; especially, an assertive matriarch.
- 06
mother lode
Any source of valuable or useful material.
- 07
mother of all
Used before a plural noun to form a compound noun having the sense of: the greatest or largest of (its kind); the most epic example of (its kind).
- 08
patience of Mother Teresa
A great deal of patience.
Last updated August 10, 2026