ladies' lounge

plural ladies' lounges · alternative ladies lounge

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see lady, lounge.
2. AustraliaA room in a pub or hotel, separate from the main drinking area, in which drinks are served; originally a place for women to drink in when not welcome or not comfortable in the traditionally male-oriented public bar, and latterly a more genteel area than the public bar.

   When she accepted his invitation, finally, and went to have a drink with him in the ladies′ lounge, her first experience of such a place, she alone seemed to notice how in the raucous group conversations he had a peculiar mannerism.

   2003, Robert Gray, “from: The Waters under the Earth”, in Peter Craven, editor, The Best Australian Essays 2003, page 229

   2 more examples

   In 1961 Australia was a very uptight place. The Queen and Sir Robert Menzies loomed large in the national psyche; there was capital punishment, pubs closed at 6 pm and women stayed in the ladies′ lounge; White Australia, cricket and the sheep′s back were pillars of the community. Dissent or satire — especially where these matters were concerned — was unthinkable.

   2008, Toby Creswell, Notorious Australians, unnumbered page

   ‘There′s definitely no ladies′ lounge?’ ‘Not for us.’ Ivy had taken Erica into ladies′ lounges when she was younger, after RSL Women′s Auxiliary meetings, and Erica remembered Ivy hissing at her to get back to the table if she ever ventured near the door that opened to the public bar.

   2008, Julia Lawrinson, The Push, unnumbered page

   Synonyms: beer garden