Wiki Says
Tricoteuse: literally translates from the French as a (female) knitter. The term is used to refer to the old women who used to sit around the guillotine knitting during the Reign of Terror in France in the 18th century. Decisions on executions had to be made in public so these women were paid to be in attendance and give their opinion. During the Reign of Terror the opinions were rarely anything but 'off with his head'.
In Charles Dickens's novel A Tale of Two Cities, the character Madame Defarge is a relentless and bloodthirsty tricoteuse during the Reign of Terror.
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