Boston version

noun

A bowdlerized version of a play to appeal to puritanical sensibilities.

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Meanings

nounBoston version (plural Boston versions)

plural Boston versions

  1. entertainmentA bowdlerized version of a play to appeal to puritanical sensibilities.

    If a routine was on the blue side — unsuitable for families — performers might want to develop a Boston version so they could play the Sunday school circuit.

    2005, Rosemarie Ostler, Dewdroppers, Waldos, and Slackers
    1 more example

    Some theaters put on censored “Boston versions” of shows. The Watch and Ward Society successfully stamped out what it considered indecency in Boston's public life. But this movement had unintended results.

    2010, Christine Zuchora-Walske, Internet Censorship: Protecting Citizens or Trampling Freedom?
Cite this entry
APA

Boston version. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Boston%20version

MLA

“Boston version.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Boston%20version. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Boston version,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Boston%20version.

Source: Boston version on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.