harlot

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
harlot
    n 1: a woman who engages in sexual intercourse for money [syn:
         {prostitute}, {cocotte}, {whore}, {harlot}, {bawd}, {tart},
         {cyprian}, {fancy woman}, {working girl}, {sporting lady},
         {lady of pleasure}, {woman of the street}]
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Harlot \Har"lot\, a.
   Wanton; lewd; low; base. --Shak.
   [1913 Webster]
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Harlot \Har"lot\, v. i.
   To play the harlot; to practice lewdness. --Milton.
   [1913 Webster]
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Harlot \Har"lot\ (-l[o^]t), n. [OE. harlot, herlot, a vagabond,
   OF. harlot, herlot, arlot; cf. Pr. arlot, Sp. arlote, It.
   arlotto; of uncertain origin.]
   1. A churl; a common man; a person, male or female, of low
      birth. --[Obs.]
      [1913 Webster]

            He was a gentle harlot and a kind.    --Chaucer.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. A person given to low conduct; a rogue; a cheat; a rascal.
      [Obs.] --Chaucer.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. A woman who prostitutes her body for hire; a prostitute; a
      common woman; a strumpet.
      [1913 Webster]
    
from Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
Harlot
(1.) Heb. zonah (Gen. 34:31; 38:15). In verses 21, 22 the Hebrew
word used in _kedeshah_, i.e., a woman consecrated or devoted to
prostitution in connection with the abominable worship of
Asherah or Astarte, the Syrian Venus. This word is also used in
Deut. 23:17; Hos. 4:14. Thus Tamar sat by the wayside as a
consecrated kedeshah.

  It has been attempted to show that Rahab, usually called a
"harlot" (Josh. 2:1; 6:17; Heb. 11:31; James 2:25), was only an
innkeeper. This interpretation, however, cannot be maintained.

  Jephthah's mother is called a "strange woman" (Judg. 11:2).
This, however, merely denotes that she was of foreign
extraction.

  In the time of Solomon harlots appeared openly in the streets,
and he solemnly warns against association with them (Prov. 7:12;
9:14. See also Jer. 3:2; Ezek. 16:24, 25, 31). The Revised
Version, following the LXX., has "and the harlots washed," etc.,
instead of the rendering of the Authorized Version, "now they
washed," of 1 Kings 22:38.

  To commit fornication is metaphorically used for to practice
idolatry (Jer. 3:1; Ezek. 16:15; Hos. throughout); hence
Jerusalem is spoken of as a harlot (Isa. 1:21).

  (2.) Heb. nokriyah, the "strange woman" (1 Kings 11:1; Prov.
5:20; 7:5; 23:27). Those so designated were Canaanites and other
Gentiles (Josh. 23:13). To the same class belonged the
"foolish", i.e., the sinful, "woman."

  In the New Testament the Greek pornai, plural, "harlots,"
occurs in Matt. 21:31,32, where they are classed with publicans;
Luke 15:30; 1 Cor. 6:15,16; Heb. 11:31; James 2:25. It is used
symbolically in Rev. 17:1, 5, 15, 16; 19:2.
    
from Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
40 Moby Thesaurus words for "harlot":
      B-girl, Cyprian, Paphian, bawd, call girl, courtesan,
      daughter of joy, demimondaine, demimonde, demirep, drab,
      erring sister, fallen, fallen woman, fancy woman, fille de joie,
      hetaera, hooker, hustler, hustling, kept woman, meretricious,
      meretrix, on the, on the town, painted woman, paphian, pave, poule,
      prostitute, prostituted, scarlet, scarlet woman, stew,
      streetwalker, streetwalking, unfortunate woman, white slave, whore,
      whorish

    

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