All 3 Uses of
patronage
in
Babbitt
- He had come, in a mood of solemn parental patronage, to look on.†
Chpt 18 *patronage = support or favor given
- Vergil Gunch thundered, "When we manage to grab this celebrated Thespian off his lovely aggregation of beautiful actresses—and I got to admit I butted right into his dressing-room and told him how the Boosters appreciated the high-class artistic performance he's giving us—and don't forget that the treasurer of the Dodsworth is a Booster and will appreciate our patronage—and when on top of that we yank Hizzonor out of his multifarious duties at City Hall, then I feel we've done ourselves proud, and Mr. Prout will now say a few words about the problems and duties—" By rising vote the Boosters decided which was the handsomest and which the ugliest guest, and to each of them was given a bunch of†
Chpt 21
- When they returned he had to endure the patronage of the young soda-clerks.†
Chpt 29
Definition:
support or favor given
The exact sense of patronage depends upon its context. For example::
- "wants to increase federal patronage of the arts" -- donations made to support an organization or person
- "a political patronage appointee" -- favors given such as political appointments or contracts given in return for political support
- "rewards repeat patronage" -- business from customers -- especially recurring business