From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishgentlemangen‧tle‧man /ˈdʒentlmən/ ●●● S2 W2 noun (plural gentlemen /-mən/) [countable] 1 MANa polite word for a man, used especially when talking to or about a man you do not know → lady Could you serve this gentleman please, Miss Bath? Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. An elderly gentleman was asleep next to the fire.► see thesaurus at man2 POLITEa man who is always polite, has good manners, and treats other people well → lady Martin – always the perfect gentleman – got to his feet when my mother walked in. Mr Field was a real gentleman.3 old-fashionedSSCLASS IN SOCIETY a man from a high social class, especially one whose family owns a lot of property → lady an English country gentleman
Examples from the Corpus
gentleman• On our way upstairs we met a gentleman coming down in the dark.• Ladies and gentlemen, may I present Dr Nelson Mandela.• Mr Marks, an elderly gentleman, was travelling with his daughter.• Got to have brains for that, gentlemen.• Can you serve this gentleman please, Sarah?• Please show this gentleman to his seat.ladies and gentlemen• Your Royal Highnesses, Your Excellencies, distinguished cabinet ministers and ambassadors, ladies and gentlemen.• Mix in the hair-trigger rage that can result from steroid use and, well, stand back, ladies and gentlemen.• Thank you for coming, ladies and gentlemen.• Here goes, ladies and gentlemen.• That isn't enough, so some kind ladies and gentlemen in London pay the rest.• A round of applause please, ladies and gentlemen.• Several ladies and gentlemen, relations of hers, were there.• Rather fine these, ladies and gentlemen.perfect gentleman• He always had been a perfect gentleman.• You might say she behaved like a perfect gentleman.• Everybody envied Evelyn; her husband was always such a perfect gentleman.• Roland was a perfect gentleman last night.• My own whip was a perfect gentleman, but it was really other colleagues who got really nasty.• Now that he was being the perfect gentleman in not pursuing her, at last she began to breathe more easily.country gentleman• Reggie was an endearing, kindly man who had led a leisurely, unadventurous life as a country gentleman.• There was enough accumulated wealth for the third Joseph Wright Alsop to pursue a life as country gentleman.• The rich were, by and large, country gentlemen.• Enter Clement Clarke Moore, country gentleman.• His life was that of the ordinary country gentleman of the period.• Who were the country gentlemen who were so put out from pursuing their time-honoured pastime?• The country gentleman at his best. 