1
general::
Phrase(s): town-and-gown
the relations between a town and the university located within the town; the relations between university students and the nonstudents who live in a university town. (Usually in reference to a disagreement. Fixed order.) • There is another town-and-gown dispute in Adamsville over the amount the university costs the city for police services. • There was more town-and-gown strife reported at Larry’s Bar and Grill last Saturday night.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs
2
general::
The inhabitants of a college or university town and the students and personnel of the college, as in There used to be friction between town and gown but the new parking lots have eased it. The gown in this expression alludes to the academic robes traditional in British universities. [Early 1800s]
American Heritage Idioms