saloon
Americannoun
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a place for the sale and consumption of alcoholic drinks.
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a room or place for general use for a specific purpose.
a dining saloon on a ship.
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a large cabin for the common use of passengers on a passenger vessel.
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British.
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(in a tavern or pub) a section of a bar or barroom separated from the public bar and often having more comfortable furnishings and a quieter atmosphere.
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a drawing room or reception room.
noun
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Also called: saloon bar. another word for lounge
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a large public room on a passenger ship
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any large public room used for a specific purpose
a dancing saloon
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a place where alcoholic drink is sold and consumed
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US, Canadian, and NZ name: sedan. a closed two-door or four-door car with four to six seats
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an obsolete word for salon
Etymology
Origin of saloon
First recorded in 1720–30; variant of salon
Explanation
A saloon is an old-fashioned name for a bar or a tavern. Suggest meeting at the local saloon after work and your friends might give you a funny look, but they'll know what you mean. A saloon is a place to sit drink a beer, though it's much more common these days to call it a bar or a pub. In the Old West, saloons played a huge role, providing refreshment to prospectors, trappers, and cowboys. The word comes from the French salon, and it originally had the same meaning, "living room." Later, saloon meant "hall," especially one on a boat or a train. In 1800's America, it came to mean "public house or bar."
Vocabulary lists containing saloon
"Joyas Voladoras" by Brian Doyle
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A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
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Winesburg, Ohio
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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.
Like Sweeney’s pop-up, this saloon isn’t totally for show — there are selected premixed cocktails available.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 27, 2026
Rolls-Royce said Project Nightingale will measure 5.76m, which is roughly the same length as its flagship four- or five-seater saloon, Phantom.
From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026
Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope are on their last drink in last chance saloon.
From BBC • Dec. 17, 2025
Morris, Pusser visited a saloon called the Plantation Club, run at the time by W.O.
From Slate • Nov. 6, 2025
When news spread that Carrie Nation had arrived in a community, saloon owners locked up their establishments until they were certain the one-woman wrecking ball had left town.
From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler
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.
