taxi dancen.
/ˈtaksɪ dɑːns/, /ˈtaksɪ dans/, U.S. /ˈtæksi ˌdæns/ Originally and chiefly U.S. Now chiefly historical.
A dance at which the services of a dance partner, esp. a woman (see taxi dancer n.), may be hired.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > ball or dance > [noun] > other balls or dances
carolc1300
buttock-ball1698
redoubt1698
ridotto1708
race ball1770
county ball1771
dress ball?1772
promenade1778
waltz1802
hunt ball1807
dignity ball1834
ball-royala1843
polkery1845
jigging-party1872
prom1879
Cinderella dance1883
dinner dance1887
white ball1891
cotillion1898
taxi dance1910
Stampede Dance1950
go-go1965
1910 Fort Wayne (Indiana) Jrnl.-Gaz. 2 Oct. 4/4 (advt.) Taxi-Dance at Tanner's Dancing Academy Tuesday Evening.
1955 N. Marsh Scales of Justice ix. 205 [He] cohabited with a so-called Miss Kitty de Vere whom he..met at a taxi-dance.
2014 Times (Nexis) 8 May 54 The ‘whore with the heart of gold’..came straight from the Singapore taxi-dances to the pages of his debut novel.
Compounds
As a modifier, as in taxi-dance hall, etc.
ΚΠ
1927 San Antonio (Texas) Express 3 Jan. 6/5 The high lights include realistic and novelty action in a taxi dance hall where paid hostesses cater to the whims of lonesome male customers.
1984 I. Doig Eng. Creek (1985) ii. 140 Tom Harry had come over from running a bar, and some said a taxi dance joint as well.
2015 Sunday Age (Melbourne) (Nexis) 18 Oct. m14 Passing the former City Club, once LA's biggest taxi-dance hall, our guides relate a racy tale of an armed robbery gone wrong.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2019; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
taxi dancev.
/ˈtaksɪ dɑːns/, /ˈtaksɪ dans/, U.S. /ˈtæksi ˌdæns/ Originally and chiefly U.S. Now chiefly historical.
intransitive. Esp. of a woman: to work as a taxi dancer (see taxi dancer n.). Also occasionally transitive with away: to spend or waste (money) hiring taxi dancers.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > ball or dance > take part in ball [verb (intransitive)] > in other dances
taxi dance1929
tea-dance1960
1929 Brazil (Indiana) Daily Times 10 Dec. 5/3 Police said he confessed he had taxi-danced away $6,000 in 500 hours after embezzling the money from the firm where he was a bookkeeper.
1933 N.Y. Times 13 Feb. 11/5 Describing Madeleine McGonegal's progress from taxi-dancing in ‘Loveland’ to the luxury of the Vanderkil ermine, it is occasionally hard to follow because of its unique representation of human psychology.
1972 J. Wambaugh Blue Knight (1973) i. 26 She was thirty-eight years old now..and taxi dancing part-time down the street at the ballroom.
2004 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 4 July ii. 9 Unlike even pre-code Hollywood hookers, Ruan doesn't taxi dance or loll about in furs; she just stands on the sidewalk until a man comes along and leads her into the shadows.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2019; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1910v.1929