deb en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
Etymology
Clipping of debutante or debut.
Meanings
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(informal) A debutante (a young woman who makes her first formal appearance in society).
Josie Powell that was, prettiest deb in Dublin. How time flies by!
1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 15: Circe]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 422:"After that little crash and burn, I guess my mother thought it would help to give me the same training. Social graces and deportment and all that bullshit. I even had a deb ball."
2022, Shelley Burr, Wake, New York, N.Y.: William Morrow, →ISBN, page 269:Go back to your debs or little boys if that's what you fancy and leave us hard working girls, the virile, mature and experienced working men of this world.
1989, Michael Pakenham, The Bitter Web, Lewes, Sussex: The Book Guild Ltd, →ISBN, page 41:'The Honourable Hester Bingham,' she told Simon. 'They said she was the most stylish deb of her season. Me and Mama read all about her. That was the first season after the war, you know, and she wote a Hardy Amies dress when she was presented to the King and Queen.'
2021, Harriet Evans, Beloved Girls, London: Headline Review, →ISBN, page 253:
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(informal) A debutante ball or debut.
"When I met him at my deb, I fell for him. Wanted nothing more than to marry him. That it happened, even after all those years, felt as if the stars had finally aligned."
2017, Gian Sardar, You Were Here, New York, N.Y.: G. P. Putnam's Sons, →ISBN, page 143:
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(dated, slang) A female member of a gang.
I want you to take over absolute control of all the debs until Ruby is released. Your main job will be to see that most of the girls take at least two tricks a night someplace where the boys can roll them without too much trouble.
1972, Donald Goines, Black Gangster, Los Angeles, C.A.: Holloway House Publishing Company, published 2004, →ISBN, page 38:Then one night Liz showed up at the factory with a scratched face and torn blouse. She had been in a fight at the park with another girl, a deb of the Porto Rican Flyers.
1950, Hal Ellson, Tomboy, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner's Sons, page 157:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| debs | Number=Plur | lexicographic |