"Peacock Alley" meaning in English

See Peacock Alley in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: Peacock Alleys [plural]
Etymology: The main corridor connecting the two buildings comprising the Waldorf–Astoria was given this nickname by the press in New York City in reference to wealthy patrons (especially women) who would go there to show off their finery (compare peacock (“strut proudly”)). The name then came to refer generically to the foyer of any such upper-class hotel, or similar gathering place. First appears c. 1904 in Real New York by Rupert Hughes. Head templates: {{en-noun|head=Peacock Alley}} Peacock Alley (plural Peacock Alleys)
  1. Any of a number of specific named hotel foyers, first and most notably that of the Waldorf–Astoria in New York City. Synonyms: peacock alley
    Sense id: en-Peacock_Alley-en-noun-lqL68fgC Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 71 29
  2. (historical, US) Any hotel foyer or similar area where upper-class women congregate in order to be seen. Tags: US, historical
    Sense id: en-Peacock_Alley-en-noun-LVlj1znT Categories (other): American English

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for Peacock Alley meaning in English (3.2kB)

{
  "etymology_text": "The main corridor connecting the two buildings comprising the Waldorf–Astoria was given this nickname by the press in New York City in reference to wealthy patrons (especially women) who would go there to show off their finery (compare peacock (“strut proudly”)). The name then came to refer generically to the foyer of any such upper-class hotel, or similar gathering place. First appears c. 1904 in Real New York by Rupert Hughes.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "Peacock Alleys",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "head": "Peacock Alley"
      },
      "expansion": "Peacock Alley (plural Peacock Alleys)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "71 29",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
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            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1912, Albert Bigelow Paine, Mark Twain A Biography",
          "text": "I supposed he would want to go down with as little ostentation as possible, so took him by the elevator which enters the dining-room without passing through the long corridor known as \"Peacock Alley\", because of its being a favorite place for handsomely dressed fashionables of the national capital.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1916 March 11, Charles E. Van Loan, “His Folks”, in Saturday Evening Post",
          "text": "She had on a light-blue dress—one of those soft filmy things—with slippers and stockings to match—there was a lace wrap over her shoulders, shiny gimcracks in her hair, and rings on all her fingers—a little piece of Peacock Alley dropped down in the Hooper House,",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any of a number of specific named hotel foyers, first and most notably that of the Waldorf–Astoria in New York City."
      ],
      "id": "en-Peacock_Alley-en-noun-lqL68fgC",
      "links": [
        [
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        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "74 26",
          "word": "peacock alley"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1907, Daisy Fitzhugh Ayres, The Conquest",
          "text": "There was a lot of fool humbuggery about these plutocratic hang-outs, with their \"peacock alleys\" where women strutted to show their clothes,",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1918, Anna Steese Richardson, “Love, Looks or Laughter?”, in McClure's, volume 50, number 4",
          "text": "To understand the new theatre audiences in New York, you need only stroll through the great hotels about dinner time. The very character of those who lounge in the Peacock Alleys and the glittering foyers has changed.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any hotel foyer or similar area where upper-class women congregate in order to be seen."
      ],
      "id": "en-Peacock_Alley-en-noun-LVlj1znT",
      "links": [
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        [
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        [
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        [
          "congregate",
          "congregate"
        ],
        [
          "in order to",
          "in order to"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(historical, US) Any hotel foyer or similar area where upper-class women congregate in order to be seen."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "historical"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Peacock Alley",
    "Rupert Hughes",
    "Waldorf–Astoria (1893–1929)"
  ],
  "word": "Peacock Alley"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns"
  ],
  "etymology_text": "The main corridor connecting the two buildings comprising the Waldorf–Astoria was given this nickname by the press in New York City in reference to wealthy patrons (especially women) who would go there to show off their finery (compare peacock (“strut proudly”)). The name then came to refer generically to the foyer of any such upper-class hotel, or similar gathering place. First appears c. 1904 in Real New York by Rupert Hughes.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "Peacock Alleys",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "head": "Peacock Alley"
      },
      "expansion": "Peacock Alley (plural Peacock Alleys)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1912, Albert Bigelow Paine, Mark Twain A Biography",
          "text": "I supposed he would want to go down with as little ostentation as possible, so took him by the elevator which enters the dining-room without passing through the long corridor known as \"Peacock Alley\", because of its being a favorite place for handsomely dressed fashionables of the national capital.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1916 March 11, Charles E. Van Loan, “His Folks”, in Saturday Evening Post",
          "text": "She had on a light-blue dress—one of those soft filmy things—with slippers and stockings to match—there was a lace wrap over her shoulders, shiny gimcracks in her hair, and rings on all her fingers—a little piece of Peacock Alley dropped down in the Hooper House,",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any of a number of specific named hotel foyers, first and most notably that of the Waldorf–Astoria in New York City."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "foyer",
          "foyer"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "English terms with historical senses",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1907, Daisy Fitzhugh Ayres, The Conquest",
          "text": "There was a lot of fool humbuggery about these plutocratic hang-outs, with their \"peacock alleys\" where women strutted to show their clothes,",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1918, Anna Steese Richardson, “Love, Looks or Laughter?”, in McClure's, volume 50, number 4",
          "text": "To understand the new theatre audiences in New York, you need only stroll through the great hotels about dinner time. The very character of those who lounge in the Peacock Alleys and the glittering foyers has changed.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any hotel foyer or similar area where upper-class women congregate in order to be seen."
      ],
      "links": [
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        ],
        [
          "foyer",
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        ],
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        [
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        ],
        [
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          "congregate"
        ],
        [
          "in order to",
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      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(historical, US) Any hotel foyer or similar area where upper-class women congregate in order to be seen."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "historical"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "peacock alley"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Peacock Alley",
    "Rupert Hughes",
    "Waldorf–Astoria (1893–1929)"
  ],
  "word": "Peacock Alley"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-06-23 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-06-20 using wiktextract (1b9bfc5 and 0136956). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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