town and gown

In a college town, the relations between “town and gown” are those between the residents of the town and the students and faculty associated with the school, who in the past wore academic gowns. Such relations are often not friendly or pleasant.

Words nearby town and gown

towing path, towkay, towline, towmond, town, town and gown, town car, town clerk, town crier, town gas, town hall

Example sentences from the Web for town and gown

  • There had been no town-and-gown feeling existing similar to what prevailed in places of greater pretensions.

    Uppingham by the Sea |John Henry Skrine

  • The town-and-gown riots took the place of sports, that's all.

    Keeping Fit All the Way |Walter Camp

  • These town-and-gown fights were often attended by fatal results.

    Old and New Paris, v. 2 |Henry Sutherland Edwards

Idioms and Phrases with town and gown

town and gown

The inhabitants of a college or university town and the students and personnel of the college, as in There used to be friction between town and gown but the new parking lots have eased it. The gown in this expression alludes to the academic robes traditional in British universities. [Early 1800s]