babushka

• babooshka, baboushka

Borrowed from Russian ба́бушка (bábuška, “grandmother, granny”), diminutive of ба́ба (bába, “old woman”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /bəˈbuːʃ.kə/

babushka (plural babushkas)

1. An old woman.
   1. A stereotypical Eastern European peasant grandmother type figure
2. A woman’s headscarf, tied under the chin.
   • 1982, TC Boyle, Water Music, Penguin 2006, p. 78:

     The crowd falls silent, momentarily stunned, while a heavyset woman in a babushka pushes her way through, broadcasting the news […].

3. Russian doll, matryoshka

• Note that the Russian term ба́бушка (bábuška, “grandmother, granny; old woman”) doesn't have the sense "Russian doll, matryoshka" or "woman’s headscarf".