The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Suburb \Sub"urb\, n. [L. suburbium; sub under, below, near +
   urbs a city. See Urban.]
   1. An outlying part of a city or town; a smaller place
      immediately adjacent to a city; in the plural, the region
      which is on the confines of any city or large town; as, a
      house stands in the suburbs; a garden situated in the
      suburbs of Paris. "In the suburbs of a town." --Chaucer.
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            [London] could hardly have contained less than
            thirty or forty thousand souls within its walls; and
            the suburbs were very populous.       --Hallam.
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   2. Hence, the confines; the outer part; the environment. "The
      suburbs . . . of sorrow." --Jer. Taylor.
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            The suburb of their straw-built citadel. --Milton.
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   Suburb roister, a rowdy; a loafer. [Obs.] --Milton.
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