dress circle

noun

a circular or curving division of seats in a theater, opera house, etc., usually the first gallery, originally set apart for spectators in evening dress.

Origin of dress circle

First recorded in 1815–25

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for dress circle

Historical Examples of dress circle

Others were swarming about the outer row of dress-circle seats.
Kitty's Conquest
Charles King
The dress-circle forgot its reticence and joined in the tumult of applause.
Delsarte System of Oratory
Various
In the Boxes and Dress-circle are friends and relations of the Author.
Punch, Or The London Charivari, Volume 102, April 2, 1892
Various
It sounds so odd—anyway, I breathe again when I think that I might have missed a perfect thing by sitting in the dress-circle.
The Romantic Lady
Michael Arlen
At this moment Conn extricated himself from the crowd, and hurried back into the dress-circle.
Burning of the Brooklyn Theatre
Anonymous

British Dictionary definitions for dress circle

dress circle

noun

a tier of seats in a theatre or other auditorium, usually the first gallery above the ground floor

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