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Darby and Joan

American  

noun

  1. a happily married elderly couple who lead a placid, uneventful life.


Darby and Joan British  
/ ˈdɑːbɪ /

noun

  1. an ideal elderly married couple living in domestic harmony

  2. a club for elderly people

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of Darby and Joan

Named after a couple mentioned in an 18th-century song

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

We always used to say, "We can always live together when we get older and retire. We'll be like Darby and Joan and have a few tea parties."

From BBC Jul. 31, 2017

If nobody interferes with them, perhaps they'll make a model Darby and Joan.

From The Day of His Youth by Brown, Alice

They were the pair, in short, who had watched Darby and Joan from behind the clump of hazel bushes as they sat upon the tree-stump that day in Copsley Wood.

From Two Little Travellers A Story for Girls by Arthur, Frances Browne

But Darby and Joan heeded none of these things.

From Two Little Travellers A Story for Girls by Arthur, Frances Browne

Darby and Joan were not allowed to go beyond the boundaries of Firgrove alone or without special permission, but within their limits they wandered about free as air.

From Two Little Travellers A Story for Girls by Arthur, Frances Browne

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