Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. as a double entendre, to have sexual intercourse.

1834

Ely’s Hawk & Buzzard (NY) 15 Mar. 3/1: ‘I shouldn’t wonder if the young fellow [...] don’t sashay with her in the garden, for she is fond of dancing’.

2. (US) to walk or travel in a casual manner; to saunter.

1836		Chester Chron 30 Dec. 4/1: A Yankee malcontent [...] If you don’t sashay across, button your lip, and go home quietly, you and I will have to promenade all round, and swing corners into the watch house .
1865		letter in Silber & Sievens Yankee Correspondence (1996) 153: He said that he had heard that you was sasaing [sic] around all sorts with any one you could get a chance to.
1878		F.H. Hart Sazerac Lying Club 83: ‘S’pose, gentlemen, that we sashay up to the bar.’ And they all ‘sashayed’.
1887		St James’s Gaz. (London) 29 Dec. 13/2: Some were capering clumsily about [...] while others where sashaying back and forth.
1893		Idaho Semi-Wkly World 15 Aug. 1/3: They were invited to sashay forth.
1906		‘O. Henry’ ‘The Brief Debut of Tildy’ in Four Million (1915) 256: Sashayed up, so he did, and made a break.
1917		Wodehouse ‘Crowned Heads’ in Man with Two Left Feet 98: He of Tennessee would sasshay up in a flip manner and make a break.
1929		S. Ornitz Haunch Paunch and Jowl 116: Say [...] this is a nice time to come sashaying into the party with any-meeny-my tripe.
1930		(con. 1910s) L. Nason A Corporal Once 28: Them spiks’ll sashay right in here to mortify us.
1939		L. Short Raiders of the Rimrock 97: I’m kept busy without sashayin’ around watching Sands.
1947		Mazama Oct. 4/1: Saturday evening we’ll sasshay over to the Highland Grange and join a neighborhood dance [DA].
1956		I. Fleming Diamonds Are Forever (1958) 63: I’m going to sashay off to Las Vegas.
1958		T. Capote Breakfast at Tiffany’s 94: While the excellent Madame Trawler sashayes her twat in and out of Tiffany’s.
1975		L. Rosten Dear ‘Herm’ 134: Every time she sashayed to the water-cooler the male staff could not keep their minds on laminated shims.
1984		Flame: a Life on the Game 49: Kim got out onto the platform with her two carrier bags and sashayed to the exit.
1994		J. Wambaugh Finnegan’s Week 183: Lou Ross sashayed back into the saloon.
2000		Indep. Traveller 22 Jan. 5: You can sashay down to the Aveda Concept Spa to indulge.

3. (US, also sash-a-way, shashiate) to hurry; to move briskly.

1906		J.W. Carr ‘Words from Northwest Arkansas’ in DN III:iii 154: sashay around, v. To trifle, to ‘cut up’. ‘None of your sashayin’ around here.’.
1912		R.W. Brown ‘Word-List From Western Indiana’ in DN III:viii 588: sashay, v. To rush; to dash. ‘He sashayed right through the crowd.’.
1925		G.H. Mullin Adventures of a Scholar Tramp 270: He was kind o’ sashayin’ around makin’ googlty eyes at the wenches.
1935		J. Conroy World to Win 27: She used t’ sashay around that hill there, and tease me. [Ibid.] 186: In the mornin’ I went sashayin’ around Leischer’s and hid in the hazel brush.
1953		Randolph & Wilson Down in the Holler 280: sashay, sash-a-way, sashiate: v.i. To move briskly about.
1964		R. Abrahams Deep Down In The Jungle 152: The way this motherfucker been talking ’bout you I know you’ll sashay. [Ibid.] 267: Sashay – Move (usually fast).
1979		F. Norman Too Many Crooks Spoil the Caper 83: I [...] sashayed, with as much confidence as I could muster, to the downstairs bar.
1989		Kirk & Madsen After The Ball 173: Bespangled drag queens [...] sashay through town in gay pride marches.
1997		(con. 1950s) J. Byrne Slab Boys [film script] 7: Low angle shot of Lucille Bentley as she sashays between the two rows of big Dickensian desks.
2000		T. Udo Vatican Bloodbath 85: ‘Oh forgive us!’ murmured Scally, sashaying up to Blackbird.
2021		J. Ellroy Widespread Panic 19: The factotum sashayed back with cocktails.

4. to strut, to parade, to walk in an ostentatious or provocative manner.

1902

‘Billy Burgundy’ Toothsome Tales Told in Sl. 113: A very petite edition of femininity [...] sashayed into the city of New York.