Charwoman is a noun
According to the Merriam Webster dictionary Charwoman means: A woman who cleans houses or offices.
The word charwoman is used by Nathaniel Hawthorne in the class handout entitled, “Young Goodman Brown,” on page 43 paragraph 3.
Hawthorne stated, “Dead?, asked Mrs. Samsa, looking at the charwoman.” Even though in the next line of the story Hawthorne wrote, “That’s what I said, replied the cleaner.” I still did not understand why she was referred to as the charwoman. Now I understand the word charwoman and cleaner is used interchangeably to describe this woman who was hired to clean house by the Samsa family.
