flirt-gill
English
Alternative forms
- flirt-gillian
Etymology
From flirt (“one who teases affection”) + gill (“prostitute, harlot”).
Noun
flirt-gill (plural flirt-gills)
- (obsolete) A flirtatious, promiscuous, or loose woman.
- c. 1591–1595, William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, act 2, scene 4:
- Scurvy / knave! I am none of his flirt-gills. I am none of his / skains-mates.
- 1607, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, The Knight of the Burning Pestle, act 4, scene 1:
- You heard him take me up like a flirt-gill, and sing bawdy songs upon me;