a phrase used about certain towns and cities where there are universities, especially Oxford and Cambridge , to describe the contrast between the two kinds of people who live there. ‘Town’ refers to the people who live and work there permanently and who are not ‘gown’, i.e. students or members of the academic staff of the university. The phrase is often used to indicate that there is tension between the two groups because of their different backgrounds and interests:
a town-and-gown incident involving students and local youths.