parlour
Americannoun
noun
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old-fashioned a living room, esp one kept tidy for the reception of visitors
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a reception room in a priest's house, convent, etc
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a small room for guests away from the public rooms in an inn, club, etc
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a room or shop equipped as a place of business
a billiard parlor
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a small shop, esp one selling cakes and nonalcoholic drinks
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Also called: milking parlour. a building equipped for the milking of cows
Spelling
See -or 1.
Etymology
Origin of parlour
C13: from Anglo-Norman parlur, from Old French parleur room in convent for receiving guests, from parler to speak; see parley
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.
Despite exhaustive attempts to return items to families, the BBC understands some objects recovered from the funeral parlour remain unclaimed.
From BBC • Apr. 2, 2026
According to Moore, Bush had been making his own coffins to save money – on occasion staying up all night at the firm's Hessle Road parlour.
From BBC • Apr. 2, 2026
Legume hordes like clover pull nitrogen from the air, reducing the use of chemical fertilisers, and the milking parlour is 80-percent solar- and wind-powered.
From Barron's • Nov. 11, 2025
The sequel focuses on Dolphin, 33, still looking after her mum and feeling dejected with life living in a bedsit and working at a tattoo parlour.
From BBC • Aug. 27, 2025
“No, I wasn't all right” He heard the “relatives” shouting in the parlour.
From "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury
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.
