Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A town or community which has acquired sudden wealth and notoriety through land speculation, etc.; also, a town which originated in a real estate ‘boom.’

Etymologies

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Examples

  • She belongs to a boom-town that defines itself in terms of property, "when if you wanted your kitchen tiled and we wanted little else, you had to fly the workman in from England, and put him up in a hotel".

    The Forgotten Waltz by Anne Enright – review 2011

  • Deadwood: This HBO wild-west anarchy drama, which ran, sadly, for far too few episodes, featured stellar performances (most notably, Ian McShane as the cynical boom-town overlord) and jaw-droppingly dense dialogue, almost Shakespearean in its tone and style.

    Bill Mann: TV Critic's Call: Here Are The Decade's 10 Best Series 2010

  • Deadwood: This HBO wild-west anarchy drama, which ran, sadly, for far too few episodes, featured stellar performances (most notably, Ian McShane as the cynical boom-town overlord) and jaw-droppingly dense dialogue, almost Shakespearean in its tone and style.

    TV Critic's Call: Here Are The Decade's 10 Best Series 2010

  • Deadwood: This HBO wild-west anarchy drama, which ran, sadly, for far too few episodes, featured stellar performances (most notably, Ian McShane as the cynical boom-town overlord) and jaw-droppingly dense dialogue, almost Shakespearean in its tone and style.

    Bill Mann: TV Critic's Call: Here Are The Decade's 10 Best Series 2009

  • But the Carver men, older and married, usually left the boom-town entertainments behind to drive fifty miles through the arid foothills and sleep at home.

    Raymond Carver Carol Sklenicka 2009

  • On both counts, the Mountjoys were on the outskirts of respectability -- a bit too close to low life and the theatrical subculture, "the great growth-industries of leisure and pleasure which give Jacobean London its rackety boom-town aura."

    Shakespeare, Center Stage Frances Taliaferro 2008

  • By 1890, local government owed $900,000,000.33 No wonder that a reaction set in against this aspect of boom-town psychology.

    A History of American Law Lawrence M. Friedman 1985

  • By 1890, local government owed $900,000,000.33 No wonder that a reaction set in against this aspect of boom-town psychology.

    A History of American Law Lawrence M. Friedman 1985

  • By 1890, local government owed $900,000,000.33 No wonder that a reaction set in against this aspect of boom-town psychology.

    A History of American Law Lawrence M. Friedman 1985

  • Instead of unfettered boom-town growth, you'll see managed living conditions in order to facilitate quick production.

    how to profit by living next-door to an addict 2007

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