> as lemmas

a1642 J. Suckling Goblins iii. 42 in Fragmenta Aurea (1646) There's as much difference betwixt A Towne-Lady, and one of these [sc. Country wenches], As there is betwixt a wilde Pheasant and a tame.

1694 Comforts of Whoreing ii. 14 The Amorous prevailing Glances of our Town Ladies..Animates the Vigour, and melts down the Modesty of our Young Country Esquire.

1702 R. Steele Funeral iii. 44 She has of a sudden left her Dayry, and sets up for a fine Town-Lady.

1752 H. Fielding Amelia IV. xii. ii. 209 I never will suffer any bad Doings in my House, nor any of the Town Ladies to come to Gentlemen here.

1843 Foreign Q. Rev. 30 177 He..is sure that only a town-lady (which he thinks is the same thing as a lady of the town) could have so little taste.

1882 C. Hoey & J. Lillie tr. A. Challamel Hist. Fashion in France i. 15 An elegant town lady would..adorn herself with a mantle that half covered her head.

1984 D. Marc Demographic Vistas ii. 45 It is..status-conscious Cousin Pearl, a town lady and a piano teacher, who convinces Jed to leave his beloved hills.

2011 L. J. Rosenthal in L. Manley Cambr. Compan. Lit. of London v. 87 The phrase itself underscores the popular belief, possibly promoted by..sex workers themselves (‘town ladies’), that before their families abandoned them.., they too were country girls.