n. A woman who performs manual labour; the female equivalent of a workman
the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
n. A woman who performs any work; especially, a woman skilled in needlework.
The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
n. A woman who does manual labor for a living: not usually applied to brain-workers. See workman.
Word Usage
"At the best, city life is an unnatural life for the human; but the city life of London is so utterly unnatural that the average workman or workwoman cannot stand it."