From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Vaudeville \Vaude"ville\, noun [F., fr. Vau-de-vire, a village in Normandy, where Olivier Basselin, at the end of the 14th century, composed such songs.] [Written also {vaudevil}.]
1. A kind of song of a lively character, frequently embodying a satire on some person or event, sung to a familiar air in couplets with a refrain; a street song; a topical song.
2. A theatrical piece, usually a comedy, the dialogue of which is intermingled with light or satirical songs, set to familiar airs.
The early vaudeville, which is the forerunner of the opera bouffe, was light, graceful, and piquant. --Johnson's Cyc.
3. a {variety show} when performed live in a theater (see above); as, to play in vaudeville; a vaudeville actor. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: a variety show with songs and comic acts etc. [syn: {music hall}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
121 Moby Thesaurus words for "vaudeville": Broadway, Grand Guignol, Passion play, Tom show, antimasque, audience success, ballet, bomb, broadcast drama, burlesque, burlesque show, carnival, charade, circus, cliff hanger, closet drama, comedy drama, critical success, daytime serial, dialogue, documentary drama, drama, dramalogue, dramatic play, dramatic series, duodrama, duologue, entertainment industry, epic theater, experimental theater, extravaganza, failure, flop, gasser, giveaway, happening, hit, hit show, improvisational drama, legit, legitimate drama, legitimate stage, masque, melodrama, minstrel show, miracle, miracle play, monodrama, monologue, morality, morality play, music drama, musical revue, mystery, mystery play, off Broadway, off-off-Broadway, opera, pageant, panel show, pantomime, pastoral, pastoral drama, piece, play, playland, playlet, problem play, psychodrama, quiz show, radio drama, repertory drama, review, revue, sensational play, serial, show, show biz, show business, sitcom, situation comedy, sketch, skit, soap, soap opera, sociodrama, spectacle, stage play, stage show, stage world, stagedom, stageland, stock, straight drama, strawhat, strawhat circuit, success, summer stock, suspense drama, tableau, tableau vivant, talk show, teleplay, television drama, television play, the boards, the footlights, the scenes, the stage, the theater, theater of cruelty, theater world, theatromania, theatrophobia, total theater, variety, variety show, vaudeville show, vehicle, word-of-mouth success, work
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