parlour

Everyday

1. (old) A sitting room in a house kept for receiving visitors or for the family to relax in. tree →
2. A shop or business giving a certain service: an ice-cream parlour, a beauty parlour, a funeral parlour. tree →
3. (farming) A milking parlour is the building where cows are milked. tree →

In the lessons

In old books, the parlour is the best room of a house. In The Wind in the Willows, Mole's little home, Mole End, has a parlour, and Badger's home and Toad Hall have fine rooms; the word shows a cosy, old-fashioned home. In modern life, an ice-cream parlour is a fun place to visit. A funeral parlour is where the body of a person who has died is looked after before a funeral. Phrases: «parlour game» (an indoor party game like charades).

Examples

• We had sundaes at the ice-cream parlour. tree →
• Grandma's parlour had a piano and lace curtains. tree →
• The cows walk into the milking parlour twice a day. tree →
• We played parlour games at the Christmas party. tree →
• The visitors were shown into the parlour. tree →
• The funeral parlour was quiet and calm. tree →
• Then they began to run, rushed into the parlour, and threw themselves round their father’s neck. tree →

Note

UK/Ireland/Australia/NZ/Canada spelling parlour; US spelling parlor. Countable.