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parlor house

American

noun

(especially in the 19th and early 20th centuries) a brothel with a comfortable, often elaborately decorated parlor for the reception of clients.

Etymology

Origin of parlor house

First recorded in 1860–65

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.