ˈdancing-girl
[dancing ppl. a.]
1. A girl who dances in public; a female professional dancer; esp. in India, a nautch-girl (in Pg. bailadeira, bayadère 1).
| 1760 Goldsm. Cit. W. xlv, Pleased with the postures as well as the condescension of our dancing girls. 1782 Ann. Reg. 43 A company of strolling dancing girls from Surat appeared on a platform. 1842 Longfellow Sp. Stud. i. i, A mere dancing-girl, who shows herself Nightly, half-naked, on the stage, for money. 1848 H. Martineau East. Life (1850) 283 There was a booth with dancing-girls, a horrid sight. |
2. dancing-girls: a plant, Mantisia saltatoria, cultivated in green-houses for the beauty and singularity of its purple and yellow flowers.
| 1866 Treas. Bot. 719/1 Its flowers..present some resemblance to a ballet-dancer; hence the popular name, Dancing Girls, applied to the plant. |