nautch girl

English

Noun

nautch girl (plural nautch girls)

1. A dancing girl who performs the nautch. [from 19th c.]
   • 1869 February, “Hindoo Fairy Legends”, in The Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature, Science, and Art, page 144:

     Great was the praise bestowed on the wise parrot, but the incensed nautch-girl said: “Be assured I will get you in my power; and when I do, I will bite off your head.”

   • 1997, Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold, page 9:

     ‘I came about the nautch girl in your harem. Are you man enough to keep her under control?’

   • 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, page 549:

     ...one expected Wrangleresses on the legendary order of Phillippa Fawcett... but certainly not this nautch-girl extravagence of looks and self-possession that Yashmeen presented.

   • 2008, Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies, page 47:

     ‘Best kind of native—kept himself busy with his shrub and his nautch-girls and his tumashers.’