light-o'-love
Americannoun
-
a lover.
-
a prostitute.
Etymology
Origin of light-o'-love
First recorded in 1570–80
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.
You should blame Menelaus, for taking you all to Troy after such a light-o'-love.
From Works of Lucian of Samosata — Volume 01 by Fowler, F. G. (Francis George)
A mere light-o'-love and saucebox, as she had always herself called the miller's wife, was wholly unworthy to occupy, even in pity, the thoughts of so holy a man.
From A House-Party Don Gesualdo and A Rainy June by Ouida
My melancholy is like her's—the ancient light-o'-love of whom I spoke just now, when she sits by the fire in the dusk, a miniature of her past self in her hand.
From Confessions of a Young Man by Moore, George (George Augustus)
None but the Prior knew the meaning of these three, and their names, with that of a poor light-o’-love, were ever on his lips when he offered the Holy Sacrifice.
From Gathering of Brother Hilarius by Fairless, Michael
They had been distinctly interesting to Derek, these glimpses of a joyous, idle, light-o'-love life, with a tragic element never very far below its surface, so different from his own gray career of business.
From The Inner Shrine by King, Basil
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
