dance
see also: Dance
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /dæns/
    • (ae-tensing) IPA: [dɛəns], [deəns]
    • (Northern England, Ireland) IPA: [dæns], [dans]
  • IPA: /dɑːns/
    • (RP, Cockney) IPA: [dɑːns]
  • (Cultivated Australian, New Zealand) IPA: [däːns]
  • (AU) IPA: [dæːns]
Noun

dance

  1. A sequence of rhythmic steps or movements usually performed to music, for pleasure or as a form of social interaction.
    • 1907, Robert William Chambers, chapter II, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 24962326 ↗:
      "I ought to arise and go forth with timbrels and with dances; but, do you know, I am not inclined to revels? There has been a little—just a very little bit too much festivity so far …. Not that I don't adore dinners and gossip and dances; not that I do not love to pervade bright and glittering places. […]"
  2. A social gathering where dancing is the main activity.
    • 1907, Robert William Chambers, chapter II, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 24962326 ↗:
      "I ought to arise and go forth with timbrels and with dances; but, do you know, I am not inclined to revels? There has been a little—just a very little bit too much festivity so far …. Not that I don't adore dinners and gossip and dances; not that I do not love to pervade bright and glittering places. […]"
  3. (heraldiccharge) A normally horizontal stripe called a fess that has been modified to zig-zag across the center of a coat of arms from dexter to sinister.
  4. A genre of modern music characterised by sampled beats, repetitive rhythms and few lyrics.
  5. (uncountable) The art, profession, and study of dancing.
  6. A piece of music with a particular dance rhythm.
    • 1909, Archibald Marshall [pseudonym; Arthur Hammond Marshall], chapter I, in The Squire’s Daughter, London: Methuen, OCLC 12026604 ↗; republished New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1919, OCLC 491297620 ↗:
      They stayed together during three dances, went out on to the terrace, explored wherever they were permitted to explore, paid two visits to the buffet, and enjoyed themselves much in the same way as if they had been school-children surreptitiously breaking loose from an assembly of grown-ups.
  7. (figurative) A battle of wits, especially one commonly fought between two rivals.
    So how much longer are we gonna do this dance?
Translations Verb

dance (dances, present participle dancing; past and past participle danced)

  1. (intransitive) To move with rhythmic steps or movements, especially in time to music.
    I danced with her all night long.
  2. (intransitive) To leap or move lightly and rapidly.
    His eyes danced with pleasure as he spoke.   She accused her political opponent of dancing around the issue instead of confronting it.
  3. (transitive) To perform the steps to.
    Have you ever danced the tango?
  4. (transitive) To cause to dance, or move nimbly or merrily about.
    • c. 1595–1596, William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act II, scene i]:
      Met we on hill, in dale, forest, or mead,
      By pavèd fountain, or by rushy brook,
      or in the beachèd margent of the sea,
      To dance our ringlets to the whistling wind,
      But with thy brawls thou hast disturbed our sport.
    • c. 1588–1593, William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act V, scene iii]:
      Thy grandsire loved thee well; / Many a time he danced thee on his knee.
  5. (figurative, euphemism) To make love or have sex.
    You make me feel like dancing.
Synonyms Translations
Dance
Proper noun
  1. Surname



This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.003
Offline English dictionary