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sundown town

noun

Etymology

After signs posted at town entrances warning that “colored people” (among other terms) were required to leave town by sundown.

Definitions

  1. A place or jurisdiction that prohibits or discourages a certain class of people,…

    A place or jurisdiction that prohibits or discourages a certain class of people, typically a certain race or ethnicity, from living there or remaining there after sundown, or, in some cases, from visiting during the day.

    • Beattie is a sundown town for tramps since the fire.
    • Cousin Paul said: "Of course, this is a sundown town [no Negro residents tolerated], but if Ike sends in the paratroopers, we can always integrate with the bears."
    • However, according to old-timers, there is a time-honored tradition extending back at least two generations that "this is a sundown town."

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for sundown town. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA