Dictionary

waistcoateer en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˌwɛskəˈtɪə(ɹ)/

Etymology

From waistcoat + -eer.

Meanings

1. (obsolete) A woman undressed to her waistcoat; a low-class prostitute, a whore.
   • Do you think you are here, sir, / Amongst your waistcoateers, your base wenches? 1639, John Fletcher, Wit Without Money:
   • His mind, in the vesture of a doubting monk, stood often in shadow under the windows of that age, to hear the grave and mocking music of the lutenists or the frank laughter of waistcoateers […]. 1916, James Joyce, chapter V, in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, New York, N.Y.: B[enjamin] W. Huebsch, →OCLC:
   • Thou knowest well that, from Mrs. Deputy's self down to the waistcoateers in the alley, all of them are twiring and peeping betwixt their fingers when you pass; and yet you call yourself a miserable dog! 1822, Sir Walter Scott, The Fortunes of Nigel:

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