Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A widely distributed butterfly (Cynthia cardui syn. Vanessa cardui) having brown, black, and orange markings.
- noun A house, especially a Victorian house, having decorative trim painted in several colors.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The thistle-butterfly, Vanessa (or Pyrameis) cardui, of an orange-red color spotted with white and black. See cut in next column.
- noun The sweet pea, Lathyrus odoratus.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A cryptic patterned
butterfly , Vanessa cardui, of the familyNymphalidae .
Etymologies
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Examples
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ry commented on the word painted lady
I always thought this was an archaic euphemism for a prostitute. Can't find any citations right now though.
March 1, 2013
bilby commented on the word painted lady
"We're always looking for new Painted Ladies: Victorians painted in three or more colors that highlight the architecture's ruffles and flourishes."
- paintedladies.com
That's Victorian (and Edwardian) houses and buildings. A few in the visuals.
March 1, 2013
alexz commented on the word painted lady
it's a 1997 movie title and several book titles.
I remember seeing a movie in the 70's where it referred to a tattooed lady.
Criminal Slang: The Vernacular of the Underground Lingo (1913) - Page 170
http://books.google.ca/books?id=nN81uyN8WmIC
March 1, 2013