DANCE • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Dance

Add this Dictionary
to your website!
See more options...

/dæns/ Listen

noun

Dance n.

The leaping, tripping, or measured stepping of one who dances; an amusement, in which the movements of the persons are regulated by art, in figures and in accord with music.

(Mus.) A tune by which dancing is regulated, as the minuet, the waltz, the cotillon, etc. Note: The word dance was used ironically, by the older writers, of many proceedings besides dancing. "Of remedies of love she knew parchance For of that art she couth the olde dance."

Dance of Death (Art), an allegorical representation of the power of death over all, the old, the young, the high, and the low, being led by a dancing skeleton.

Morris dance. See Morris.

To lead one a dance, to cause one to go through a series of movements or experiences as if guided by a partner in a dance not understood.

verb

Dance v. t. To cause to dance, or move nimbly or merrily about, or up and down; to dandle. "To dance our ringlets to the whistling wind." "Thy grandsire loved thee well; Many a time he danced thee on his knee."

To dance attendance, to come and go obsequiously; to be or remain in waiting, at the beck and call of another, with a view to please or gain favor. "A man of his place, and so near our favor, To dance attendance on their lordships' pleasure."

Dance v. i. (past & past part. danced; pres. part. dancing)

To move with measured steps, or to a musical accompaniment; to go through, either alone or in company with others, with a regulated succession of movements, (commonly) to the sound of music; to trip or leap rhythmically. "Jack shall pipe and Gill shall dance." "Good shepherd, what fair swain is this Which dances with your daughter?"

To move nimbly or merrily; to express pleasure by motion; to caper; to frisk; to skip about. "Then, 'tis time to dance off." "More dances my rapt heart Than when I first my wedded mistress saw." "Shadows in the glassy waters dance." "Where rivulets dance their wayward round."

To dance on a rope, or To dance on nothing, to be hanged.

See images of 'Dance'

Etymology of 'Dance'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

Share |

Add this dictionary
to your browser search bar

"Dance" Quotes from Famous Books

... Flounderings of Absurdities, Irresistibilities of Iterations, Significances of Jargons, Wailings of Pretended Woes, Roarings of Laughter, and Hubbubs of Animal Spirits, all appear, singly or in companies, to flash, ripple, dance, shoot, effervesce, and sparkle, in prose and verse, vignettes, sketches, or elaborate pictures, on the ever-shifting and always entertaining pages of the London Charivari. Of one prominent form of the exhibition of this inexhaustible arsenal, ...

— The Atlantic Monthly , Volume 2, No. 14, December 1858 • Various

... Jewish women was considered the highest honor and glory ever vouchsafed to mortals. So she was permitted for a brief period to enjoy her freedom, accompanied by young Jewish maidens who had hoped to dance at ...

— The Woman's Bible. • Elizabeth Cady Stanton

... have imagined one's self in the 'land of the cypress and myrtle' instead of our actual whereabout upon the polar banks of the Neva. Wandering through these mimic groves, or reposing from the fatigues of the dance, was many a fair and graceful form, while the brilliantly lighted ballroom, filled with hundreds of exquisitely dressed women (for the Russian ladies, if not very pretty, are graceful, and make admirable toilettes), formed a dazzling contrast with the tempered light ...

— The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1555-1566 • John Lothrop Motley

... laughter of the company, by jocosely putting his arms akimbo, and inserting his thumbs into the orifices of the wounds, as if they had been arm-holes. This having in a measure restored good-humor, the party joined hands and formed a circle preparatory to dancing. The dance was commenced by some monotonous stanzas hummed in a very high key by one of the party, the rest joining in the following chorus, which seemed to present a familiar sound to ...

— Legends and Tales • Bret Harte

... John de Bichis, where there were several women of Siena, women wholly given over to worldly vanities. Your companion was one of your colleagues whom his years, if not the dignity of his office, ought to have reminded of his duty. We have heard that the dance was indulged in in all wantonness; none of the allurements of love were lacking, and you conducted yourself in a wholly worldly manner. Shame forbids mention of all that took place, for not only the things themselves but their very names are unworthy of your rank. In order ...

— Lucretia Borgia - According to Original Documents and Correspondence of Her Day • Ferdinand Gregorovius

More quotes...