town

go to town do something thoroughly or extravagantly, with a great deal of energy and enthusiasm. informal

1996Dougie Brimson & Eddie BrimsonEverywhere We Go: Behind the Matchday Madness When there is a major incident, the press still go to town and we are bombarded with graphic images of bloody faces.

man about town: seeman.

on the town enjoying the entertainments, especially the nightlife, of a city or town. informal

one-horse town: seeone-horse.

the only game in town: seegame.

paint the town red: seepaint.

run someone out of town force someone to leave a place. chiefly North American

town and gown non-members and members of a university in a particular place.

☞ The gown is the academic dress worn by university members, now required only on ceremonial or formal occasions. The distinction between town and gown was made in these specific terms in early 19th-century Oxford and Cambridge, but the traditional hostility between the native inhabitants of the two cities and the incoming students has been a long-standing phenomenon, as is evidenced by the St Scholastica's Day riot in Oxford in 1354.