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old gown. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
old gown, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
old gown in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
old gown you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Noun
old gown (uncountable)
- (obsolete, slang) smuggled tea
1879, John Owens, Plain Papers Relating to the Excise Branch of the Inland Revenue Department, From 1621 to 1878, page 444:[…] their horses loaded with 150 to 200 lbs. of “old gown” (smuggled tea) […]
1883, S. William Beck, Gloves, Their Annals and Associations, page 165:[…] at this time there was a very general leaning towards cheap brandy or tobacco; "old gown," as smuggled tea was called, was in general request, […]
References
- John Camden Hotten (1873) The Slang Dictionary