Harlot \Har"lot\, v. i.
   To play the harlot; to practice lewdness. --Milton.
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	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.]
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            He was a gentle harlot and a kind.    --Chaucer.
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   2. A person given to low conduct; a rogue; a cheat; a rascal.
      [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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   3. A woman who prostitutes her body for hire; a prostitute; a
      common woman; a strumpet.
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	Harlot \Har"lot\, a.
   Wanton; lewd; low; base. --Shak.
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	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]

	

	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

	

	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.