From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdamedame /deɪm/ noun [countable] 1 WOMAN American English old-fashioned informal a woman2 APT British English a humorous female character in a pantomime (=a special play at Christmas) who is played by a man
Examples from the Corpus
dame• Annes is a dame of dubious virtue.• But Mrs Pigdon was a sharp-eyed dame for all that.• This was not an ordinary room but rather the boudoir of a grande dame.• You should have seen the dame!DameDame noun [countable] NAME OF A PERSONa British title given to a woman as an honour for achievement or for doing good things, or a woman who has this title → Sir Dame Judi Dench She was made a Dame in 1992.Examples from the Corpus
Dame• Both Dames Elizabeth and Martha were deaf, so whatever you said or how you said it would not cause any alarm.• But Margaret knew nothing about it, and therefore she could hardly feel that she was a real Dame.Origin dame (1200-1300) Old French Latin domina “lady of high rank” 