dancen.
/dɑːns/, /dans/, U.S. /dæns/ 1. A rhythmical skipping and stepping, with regular turnings and movements of the limbs and body, usually to the accompaniment of music; either as an expression of joy, exultation, and the like, or as an amusement or entertainment; the action or an act or round of dancing.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > [noun]
hoppingc1290
dancec1300
dancinga1340
sallyingc1440
footinga1450
balla1571
tracing1577
orchestra1596
measuring1598
dancery?1615
saltation1623
tripudiation1623
poetry of motion (also the foot)1654
light fantastic1832
rug-cutting1937
terping1942
c1300 K. Alis. 6990 Murye they syngyn, and daunces maken.
1303 R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne 4684 Daunces, karols, somour games.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 7601 In her daunse [Gött. dauncing, Vesp. karol] þis was þe song.
c1400 Rom. Rose 808 It to me liked right wele, That Courtesie me cleped so, And bade me on the daunce go.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms cxlix. 3 Let them prayse his name in the daunce.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream ii. i. 254 Luld in these flowers, with daunces and delight. View more context for this quotation
1611 Bible (King James) Judges xxi. 21 If the daughters of Shiloh come out to daunce in daunces. View more context for this quotation
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost v. 619 That day..they spent In song and dance about the sacred Hill. View more context for this quotation
1730 J. Thomson Autumn in Seasons 181 Leaps, wildly graceful, in the lively dance.
1762 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting II. iii. 92 The holy family with a dance of Angels..is a capital picture.
1841 C. J. Lever Charles O'Malley cxviii Waltzers whirled past in the wild excitement of the dance.
1894 N.E.D. at Dance Mod. Her partner for the next dance.
2.
a. A definite succession or arrangement of steps and rhythmical movements constituting one particular form or method of dancing.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > [noun] > a dance
chore1382
dance1393
measure?c1430
virlyc1430
tracec1450
platfoot1559
hop-about1593
firk1637
footing1652
ballet1786
stand-up1861
1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis III. 365 The hove daunce and the carole.
1521 R. Copland in A. Barclay Introd. Frenche f. 16, (title) Maner of Dauncynge of base daunces after the vse of Fraunce.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry V ii. iv. 25 If we heard England were busied with a Moris dance.
1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. i. 55 A kinde of dance which they use also in Spaine..called The Canaries.
1711 E. Budgell Spectator No. 67. ⁋2 Pyrrhus..Inventing the Dance which is called after his Name.
1879 H. N. Moseley Notes by Naturalist on ‘Challenger’ 331 The most interesting dances were a Club Dance and a Fan Dance.
b. A tune or musical composition for regulating the movements of a dance, or composed in a dance rhythm.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > dance music > [noun]
springa1475
dance1509
ballo1825
1509 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure xvi. xix She commaunded her mynstrelles right anone to play..the gentill daunce.
1597 T. Morley Plaine & Easie Introd. Musicke 180 Ballete or daunces..songs, which being song to a dittie may likewise be daunced.
1711 E. Budgell Spectator No. 67. ⁋9 [He] bid the Fidlers play a Dance called Mol Patley.
1880 G. Grove Dict. Music I. 350/1 His [Chopin's] first..compositions were dances: Polonaises, Mazurkas, and Valses.
3. A social gathering for the purpose of dancing; a dancing party.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > ball or dance > [noun]
treschec1290
hoppingc1330
dancec1385
ball?1605
ballet1657
dancing-match1740
dancing-assembly1765
fandango1766
dancing-party1852
German1853
rag1899
ngoma1905
rat race1937
c1385 G. Chaucer Legend Good Women Dido. 1269 And waytyn hire at festis and at dauncis.
1790 R. Burns Tam o' Shanter 178 in Poems & Songs (1968) II. 563 Ah! little kenn'd thy reverend grannie, That sark she coft for her wee Nannie..Wad ever grac'd a dance of witches!
a1845 R. H. Barham Wedding-day in Ingoldsby Legends (1847) 3rd Ser. 211 When asked to a party, A dance, or a dinner.
1894 N.E.D. at Dance Mod. Mrs. S. is giving a dance instead of a garden party this year.
4. transferred and figurative.
ΚΠ
1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 85. ⁋4 The dance of spirits, the bound of vigour..are reserved for him that braces his nerves.
1879 J. Stainer Music of Bible 3 One might say that rhythm is the dance of sound.
1881 Daily Tel. 28 Jan. The dance of the waters, especially to windward, was visible for over a mile around.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > doing > a proceeding > [noun]
thingOE
processa1325
fare1340
dancea1352
passage1569
play1581
procedure1590
carriage1609
conduct1706
démarche1721
affair1797
proceeding1801
the world > action or operation > behaviour > [noun] > (a) course of conduct or action
wayeOE
pathOE
waya1225
tracea1300
line13..
dancea1352
tenor1398
featc1420
faction1447
rink?a1500
footpath1535
trade1536
vein1549
tract1575
course1582
road1600
country dance1613
track1638
steeragea1641
rhumb1666
tack1675
conduct1706
walk1755
wheel-way1829
a1352 L. Minot Poems i. 66 At Donde now es done þaire daunce, And wend þai most anoþer way.
a1352 L. Minot Poems v. 14 Sare it þam smerted þat ferd out of France, Þare lered Inglis men þam a new daunce.
c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 478 Of remedies of loue she knew per chaunce For she koude of that art the olde daunce.
1423 Kingis Quair clxxxv Tham that ar noght entrit inne The dance of lufe.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 86 God for his merci and pitee kepe Ynglond, that he come not into lijk daunce.
a1535 T. More Hist. Richard III in Wks. (1557) 53/1 The lord Stanley and he had departed with diuerse other lordes, and broken all the daunce.
1656 B. Harris tr. J. N. de Parival Hist. Iron Age ii. i. xv. 200 The Emperour..troubled, at this too long, and too bloody dance.
1733 Walpole in Morley Life (1889) viii. 174 This dance..will no further go. I meant well, but..the Act could not be carried into execution without an armed force.
6. Phrases:
a. to begin, lead the dance; figurative to take the lead in any course of action.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > control > be in control [verb (intransitive)] > lead
to begin, lead the dancec1325
to take the (or a) lead1745
skipper1883
the world > action or operation > prosperity > advancement or progress > advance, progress, or develop [verb (intransitive)] > lead the way
to begin, lead the dancec1325
to lead (also rule) the ringa1450
to lead (bear, have) the vana1661
pioneer1780
to take up the running1825
blaze1841
to lead the way1874
society > leisure > dancing > ball or dance > take part in ball [verb (intransitive)] > be first to dance
to begin, lead the dancec1325
to dance provoa1687
to lead off1806
c1325 Coer de L. 3739 The damyseles lede daunse.
c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde ii. 504 Yet made he þo as fressh a contenaunce, As þough he schulde haue led þe newe daunce.
c1380 J. Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 360 Crist þat lediþ þe daunce of love.
a1529 J. Skelton Magnyfycence (?1530) sig. Diiii Foly fotyth it properly fansy ledyth the dawnce.
1579 L. Tomson tr. J. Calvin Serm. Epist. S. Paule to Timothie & Titus 522/2 They must begin the dance to be punished.
a1640 J. Fletcher & P. Massinger Custome of Countrey ii. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Aa3v/1 They heard your Lordship Was by the Ladies choise to lead the dance.
1742 Mann Let. to H. Walpole 23 Sept. M. de Gages is now the man who begins the dance.
b. to lead, rarely give (a person) a dance; figurative to lead (him) in a wearying, perplexing, or disappointing course; to cause him to undergo exertion or worry with no adequate result.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > change of direction of movement > change direction of movement of [verb (transitive)] > traverse in winding course > lead person in perplexing course
to lead, rarely give (a person) a dancea1545
to lead (a person) the measures1594
to lead (a person) a dance1861
the mind > emotion > suffering > state of being upset or perturbed > worry > worry about [verb (transitive)] > cause worry to
busyeOE
fretc1290
exercise1531
to lead, rarely give (a person) a dancea1545
pingle1740
potter1763
fidget1785
worrit1818
worry1822
bite1909
disquieten1921
to stress out1983
a1545 Deth Edwarde IV in J. Skelton Certayne Bks. (c1563) 29 She [sc. Fortune] toke me by the hand and led me a daunce.
1599 H. Porter Pleasant Hist. Two Angrie Women of Abington sig. H2 I pray God they may..both be led a darke daunce in the night.
1682 E. Hickeringill Wks. (1716) II. 37 I think he has led me a fair dance, I am so tyred.
1700 S. L. tr. C. Frick Relation Voy. in tr. C. Frick & C. Schweitzer Relation Two Voy. E.-Indies 45 [A monkey] led me such a dance, that I had almost stuck in the Slough.
1798 W. Hutton Life 65 I should have led them a dance of twenty miles to breakfast at Kidderminster.
1874 T. B. Aldrich Prudence Palfrey i. 12 It was notorious that the late Maria Jane had led Mr. Wiggins something of a dance in this life.
c. Dance of Death: an allegorical representation of Death leading men of all ranks and conditions in the dance to the grave: a very common subject of pictorial representation during the middle ages. Also called Dance of Macabre, French danse macabre: see Littré.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > [noun] > dance of
Dance of Deathc1430
Dance of Macabrec1430
Totentanz1789
dance macabre1841
c1430 J. Lydgate Daunce Machabree Prol. The which daunce at sainct innocentes Portrayed is with all the surplusage.
c1430 J. Lydgate Daunce Machabree Prol. Death fyrst speaketh vnto the Pope, and after to euery degree as foloweth.
c1500 Lyfe Roberte Deuyll 591 in W. C. Hazlitt Remains Early Pop. Poetry Eng. (1864) I. 242 For and we nowe in deathes daunce stode, To hell shoulde we go, with horrible vengeaunce.
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) I. clvi. f. lxxxvv But deth yt is to all persones egall, lastlye tooke hym in his dymme daunce whan he had ben Kyng...xlvii. yeres.
1631 J. Weever Anc. Funerall Monuments 378 The dance of Death..the Picture of death leading all estates.
1833 J. Dallaway Disc. Archit. Eng. (Stanf.) 137 The Dance of Macabre (Holbein's Dance of Death) was painted on the walls.
d. St. Vitus's dance: = chorea n.; also figurative and in extended use. Also St. Vitus's fit.Also St. John's, St. Guy's dance, terms applied to the dancing-mania of the middle ages.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > convulsive or paralytic disorders > [noun] > chorea
tirla1585
St. Vitus's dance1621
chorea1686
St. Vitus's jig1702
leaping ague1792
St. Vitus's fit1836
dancing-mania1877
Huntington's disease1889
Sydenham's chorea1892
dancing-plague-
1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy i. i. i. iv. 15 Chorus sancti Viti, or Saint Vitus dance..they that are taken with it, can doe nothing but dance till they be dead.
1721 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. at Chorea Santi Viti St. Vitus's Dance.
1746 J. Andree (title) Cases of the epilepsy, hysteric fits, and St. Vitus's dance, with the process of cure.
1804 R. Southey in H. D. Traill Coleridge (1884) 106 His [Coleridge's] mind is in a perpetual St. Vitus's dance—eternal activity without action.
1836 T. Hood Comic Ann. 89 Ring Tom of Lincoln till he splits, And dance into St. Vitus' fits.
1840 A. Tweedie Syst. Pract. Med. II. 205 In St. John's dance, as well as in that of St. Vitus..a tympanic state of the abdomen was a frequent symptom.
1883 19th Cent. Sept. 537 He calls this policy ‘the policy of salutary agitation’, which I irreverently translate: ‘the St. Vitus' dance policy’.
1897 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon St. Vitus' dance of the voice, a name for Stammering.
e. dance upon nothing: an ironical expression for hanging (cf. dance v. 3b).
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > capital punishment > hanging > [noun]
hanginga1300
hangmentc1440
gallows1483
gibbet1502
Tyburn checka1529
Tyburn stretch1573
caudle of hempseed1588
hempen caudle1588
swinging1591
rope law1592
rope-leap1611
cording1619
turn1631
nubbing1673
cravatting1683
gibbetation1689
topping1699
Tyburn jig1699
noosing1819
scragging1819
Tyburn tie1828
Newgate hornpipe1829
dance upon nothing1841
drop1887
suspension1909
1841 T. Hood Miss Kilmansegg iv, in New Monthly Mag. 61 271 Just as the Felon condemn'd to die..From his gloomy cell in a vision elopes, To caper on sunny greens and slopes, Instead of the dance upon nothing.
1842 T. Hood in Comic Ann. 130 If a dance upon Sunday led so inevitably to a dance upon nothing!
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
a.
dance-band n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musician > instrumentalist > company of instrumentalists > [noun] > band > type of
waits1298
consort1587
wait player1610
wind music1650
the fiddles1676
military band1775
German band1819
street band1826
brass band1834
promenade band1836
horn-band1849
pipe band1867
wind-band1876
Hungarian band1882
jazz band1916
jazz orchestra1916
big band1919
road band1922
Schrammel quartet1924
showband1926
spasm band1926
dance-band1927
marching band1930
name band1932
ork1933
silver band1933
sweet band1935
Schrammel orchestra1938
pop band1942
jug band1946
steel band1949
rehearsal band1957
skiffle band1957
ghost band1962
support band1969
support group1969
scratch band1982
1927 Melody Maker Aug. 739/1 It was his boast then that he would have a symphonic dance band.
1962 J. Wain Strike Father Dead 67 The convention that lays it down that English dance-band singers must put on an American accent.
dance-floor n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > place for dancing > [noun] > floor for dancing
dancing-floor1839
floor1839
dance floor1874
dance-floor1928
1928 Melody Maker Feb. 171/3 The dance floor was crowded.
1959 M. Shadbolt New Zealanders 32 There was even a crude dance-floor erected for the night a little back from the beach.
dance-frock n.
ΚΠ
1904 Westm. Gaz. 18 Feb. 4/2 An accordion-pleated lace net is one of the prettiest dance-frocks I have seen for some time.
dance-leader n.
ΚΠ
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 114 Dawnceledere, coralles.
dance-lover n.
dance-rhythm n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > duration of notes > proportion of notes or rhythm > [noun] > action of putting into rhythm > types of rhythm
swing1829
sprung rhythm1877
dance-rhythm1880
ragtime1896
slow drag1901
rumba1912
polymetre1922
cross-rhythm1926
tangana1926
counter-rhythm1927
ride1935
walking beat1935
ricky-tick1937
rock1937
shuffle rhythm1940
isorhythm1954
shuffle beat1955
tango rhythm1966
makossa1973
1880 G. Grove Dict. Music II. at Melody In the matter of rhythm there are two things which play a part—the rhythmic qualities of language, and dance rhythms.
1947 A. Einstein Music Romantic Era xvi. 290 A pathetic recitative changes suddenly into the most impudent dance-rhythm.
dance-step n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > movements or steps > [noun] > step
step1678
pas1775
dance-step1920
1920 S. Lewis Main St. 380 The rude fiddling and banging dance-steps in the barn.
1936 Discovery June 186/2 For the different kinds of spirits [to be exorcised] different dances are held, each with its special dance-steps.
1962 Times 26 Apr. 8/1 Ready-made and established dance-steps.
dance-tune n.
b.
dance-loving n.
C2.
dance-card n. a card bearing the names of (a woman's) prospective partners at a dance.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > ball or dance > [noun] > dance programme or card
ball-book1842
dance-card1895
programme1899
dance programme1906
1895 J. L. Williams Princeton Stories 199 You will here meet several of those whose names you have on your dance-card, and you may make up your mind whether to remember that fact or not.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses i. i. [Telemachus] 10 Old feather fans, tassled dancecards, powdered with musk.
dance-cellar n. U.S. a dancing-saloon beneath the ground level.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > place for dancing > [noun] > public dance hall > types of
dance-cellar1855
hurdy-gurdy house1866
bal musette1926
disco1957
discotheque1960
roller disco1978
1855 Knickerbocker Mag. 45 363 This is the dance-cellar of notorious Jim Poole!
dance-director n. the person who, in musical comedies, arranges the dances.
ΚΠ
1932 P. G. Wodehouse Louder & Funnier 84 The dance-director is instructed to think up a lot of different business for the first encore.
dance-drama n. a rendering through dancing of a dramatic situation.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > a play > [noun] > other types of play
king play1469
king game1504
historya1509
chronicle history1600
monology1608
horseplaya1627
piscatory1631
stock play1708
petite pièce1712
mimic1724
ballad opera1730
ballad farce1735
benefit-play1740
potboiler1783
monodrama1793
extravaganza1797
theo-drama1801
monodrame1803
proverb1803
stock piece1804
bespeak1807
ticket-night1812
dramaticle1813
monopolylogue1819
pièce d'occasion1830
interlude1831
mimea1834
costume piece1834
mummers' play1849
history play1850
gag-piece1860
music drama1874
well-made1881
playlet1884
two-decker1884
slum1885
kinderspiel1886
thrill1886
knockabout1887
two-hander1888
front-piece1889
thriller1889
shadow-play1890
mime play1894
problem play1894
one-acter1895
sex play1899
chronicle drama1902
thesis-play1902
star vehicle1904
folk-play1905
radio play1908
tab1915
spy play1919
one-act1920
pièce à thèse1923
dance-drama1924
a mess of plottage1926
turkey1927
weepie1928
musical1930
cliffhanger1931
mime drama1931
triangle drama1931
weeper1934
spine-chiller1940
starrer1941
scorcher1942
teleplay1947
straw-hatter1949
pièce noire1951
pièce rose1951
tab show1951
conversation piece1952
psychodrama1956
whydunit1968
mystery play1975
State of the Nation1980
1924 New Republic 26 Nov. 11 Spend a few hours in a New Mexico pueblo at the end of the day of one of their sacred dance-dramas.
1938 Encycl. Brit. Bk. of Year 251/2 Dance dramas, marionette shows, musical comedies, [etc.].
1958 Times 13 Aug. 5/3 Darrell's dance-drama The Prisoners..was not only topical..but also gripping.
1968 Jrnl. Music Acad. Madras 39 1 The dramatic poem of the Composer Nauka Caritram was also produced as a dance-drama.
dance-hall n. originally U.S. a public dancing saloon.
ΘΠ
society > leisure > dancing > place for dancing > [noun] > public dance hall
dancing-hall1753
dancing-room1788
dancing-house1818
dance hall1845
dance-house1848
dance-hall1858
palais de danse1900
palais1928
pally1928
track1945
1858 Mass. Acts & Resolves 125 Any person who shall offer to view..any..show, concert, or dance-hall exhibition of any description shall be punished by a fine.
1891 Scribner's Mag. Sept. 276/1 Port Said..abounds in French cafés and dance-halls.
1904 J. Conrad Nostromo i. viii. 107 From the doors of the dance hall men and women emerged tottering.
1934 T. S. Eliot Rock i. 40 Everythink useful for the people: dance 'alls, picture palaces, swimmin' baths.
dance hostess n. (a) a woman who holds a dance at her house, etc.; (b) a dancing-partner (dancing-partner n. (b) at dancing n. Compounds 2).
ΚΠ
1909 Daily Chron. 8 July 6/5 Lady Londesborough was one of the chief dance hostesses last night.
1934 F. B. Young This Little World ix. 179 A young woman of a most undesirable class—a ‘dance-hostess’ (the word was vaguely familiar and unpleasant) in a London night club.
1961 A. Wilson Old Men at Zoo ii. 113 She's a dance hostess.
dance-house n. = dance-hall n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > place for dancing > [noun] > public dance hall
dancing-hall1753
dancing-room1788
dancing-house1818
dance hall1845
dance-house1848
dance-hall1858
palais de danse1900
palais1928
pally1928
track1945
1848 Western Boatman (Cincinnati) June 133 That afternoon I wrote a letter to a friend of mine in Natchez, who was a woman that kept a dance-house.
1875 H. B. Stowe We & our Neighbors xli. 375 He told me that he was in the constant habit of passing through the dance-houses, and talking with people who kept them.
1889 Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 24 Apr. 1/8 To run a dance-house and gambling-den.
1946 G. Foreman Last Trek of Indians 256 His forsaken wife, Comes-at-Rain, sprang through the window of the dance house.
dance music n. ‘music designed as an accompaniment to dancing; also, music written in dance rhythm though not for dancing purposes’ (Grove Dict. Music).
Π
1861 G. H. Kingsley in F. Galton Vacation Tourists & Trav. 1860 152 Very popular..as a means of producing dance music.
dance programme n. = dance-card n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > ball or dance > [noun] > dance programme or card
ball-book1842
dance-card1895
programme1899
dance programme1906
1906 Dial. Notes 3 133 Got your dance-program filled up yet?
1913 C. Mackenzie Sinister St. I. ii. i. 149 The dance programme, with Muriel's name fourteen times repeated.
1926 S. T. Warner Lolly Willowes i. 42 A bunch of dance programmes kept for the sake of their little pencils.
1968 D. Hopkinson Incense-tree iv. 46 Dance programmes were usual—with the names of the dances on one side and space for the names of partners on the other, and a small pink pencil tied on with blue cord.
Draft additions June 2001
= dance music n. at Additions. Frequently attributive.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > pop music > [noun] > other pop music
a cappella1905
soundclash1925
marabi1933
doo-wop1958
filk1959
folk-rock1963
Liverpool sound1963
Mersey beat1963
Mersey sound1963
surf music1963
malombo1964
mbaqanga1964
easy listening1965
disco music1966
Motown1966
boogaloo1967
power pop1967
psychedelia1967
yé-yé1967
agitpop1968
bubblegum1968
Tamla Motown1968
Tex-Mex1968
downtempo1969
taarab1969
thrash1969
world music1969
funk1970
MOR1970
tropicalism1970
Afrobeat1971
electro-pop1971
post-rock1971
techno-pop1971
Tropicalia1971
tropicalismo1971
disco1972
Krautrock1972
schlager1973
Afropop1974
punk funk1974
disco funk1975
Europop1976
mgqashiyo1976
P-funk1976
funkadelia1977
karaoke music1977
alternative music1978
hardcore1978
psychobilly1978
punkabilly1978
R&B1978
cowpunk1979
dangdut1979
hip-hop1979
Northern Soul1979
rap1979
rapping1979
jit1980
trance1980
benga1981
New Romanticism1981
post-punk1981
rap music1981
scratch1982
scratch-music1982
synth-pop1982
electro1983
garage1983
Latin1983
Philly1983
New Age1984
New Age music1985
ambient1986
Britpop1986
gangster rap1986
house1986
house music1986
mbalax1986
rai1986
trot1986
zouk1986
bhangra1987
garage1987
hip-house1987
new school1987
old school1987
thrashcore1987
acid1988
acid house1988
acid jazz1988
ambience1988
Cantopop1988
dance1988
deep house1988
industrial1988
swingbeat1988
techno1988
dream pop1989
gangsta rap1989
multiculti1989
new jack swing1989
noise-pop1989
rave1989
Tejano1989
breakbeat1990
chill-out music1990
indie1990
new jack1990
new jill swing1990
noisecore1990
baggy1991
drum and bass1991
gangsta1991
handbag house1991
hip-pop1991
loungecore1991
psychedelic trance1991
shoegazing1991
slowcore1991
techno-house1991
gabba1992
jungle1992
sadcore1992
UK garage1992
darkcore1993
dark side1993
electronica1993
G-funk1993
sampladelia1994
trip hop1994
break1996
psy-trance1996
nu skool1997
folktronica1999
dubstep2002
Bongo Flava2003
grime2003
Bongo2004
singeli2015
1988 N.Y. Times 10 Jan. ii. 28/1 Relying on machines rather than people is bound to change music. (It already has on dance records, where repeating beats have been virtually already..taken over by machines.)
1993 Daily Tel. 1 July 18/4 In a festival so devoted to Sixties and Seventies retro, it is probably no coincidence that dance, the only significant pop music development since that period, was almost ignored in the programming.
1994 Face Jan. 44/2 Asked to describe it [sc. her album], she falters. ‘Erm... it's alternative, it's not really dance. I mean, when it goes into remixes and stuff and club 12-inches it will be.’
1998 S. Reynolds Energy Flash xii. 280 The soundtrack mixed proto-techno electronic dance with Wax Trax-style industrial and indiepop like The Smiths' ‘Girlfriend In A Coma’.
2000 Transition No. 80. 134/2 Techno, the late-1980s dance genre from black Detroit that eventually sparked the rave scene in Europe.
Draft additions March 2012
dance move n. a movement which forms part of a dance, esp. one consisting of a set routine of such movements; frequently in plural; cf. move n. 6a.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > movements or steps > [noun] > movement
movement1715
dance move1960
1960 M. V. Owen Fun of Figure Skating vii. 115 The waltz eight, the man's ten-step, the rolls, and the changes of edge, plus the threes you already know, form a broad foundation for building a repertoire of dance moves.
1994 C. Paglia Vamps & Tramps 370 Her eccentric fusion of avant-garde dance moves, disco-funk music, and hip urban waif fashion style.
2002 Adrenalin No. 13. 116/5 Behind them the DJ was shunting his hips and moving his fists beside them in tight circles. It was a dance move I'd previously only seen performed by children's TV presenters: the choo-choo train.
2010 Vanity Fair Feb. 36/1 If any of you youngsters want to try your hand doing Le Freak or the Hustle, two of the seminal dance moves of the period, check out VF.com for our step-by-step instructions.
Draft additions June 2001
dance music n. spec. a genre of popular music which is largely or wholly synthesized, has a repetitive beat, few or no lyrics, and frequently incorporates sound samples (cf. sample n.).
Π
1987 Chicago Tribune (Nexis) 4 Mar. 23 House is mean, pounding dance music... The beat goes boom, boom, boom, boom, with no real melody line and no relief.
1989 Blitz Jan. 34/3 Next year you'll see lots of fast dance music again, garage and house stuff, but this time with big vocals.
1995 J. Miller Voxpop i. 9 I like dance music and rave now, not hardcore, mostly garage and progressive.
2001 Evening Post (Bristol) (Electronic ed.) 25 Jan. Dance music has become very commercial with house tunes, trance anthems and hard house tracks crossing over into the mainstream charts.
Draft additions September 2019
dancesport n. competitive ballroom dancing.
ΚΠ
1989 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 12 June 10 They competed in the Highland Park Dancesport Classic at the Centre Theatre on the Gold Coast.
2018 V. Chmerkovskiy I'll never change my Name i. 16 My dad, my brother, and I helped in the push to get dancesport into the Olympics.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1894; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
dancev.
/dɑːns/, /dans/, U.S. /dæns/ 1. † b. to dance barefoot: said of an elder sister when a younger one was married before her. Obsolete.
a. intransitive. To leap, skip, hop, or glide with measured steps and rhythmical movements of the body, usually to the accompaniment of music, either by oneself, or with a partner or in a set.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > [verb (intransitive)]
frikec1000
sail1297
dancec1300
sault1377
tripc1386
balea1400
hopc1405
foota1425
tracec1425
sallyc1440
to dance a fita1500
fling1528
to tread a measure, a dance1577
trip1578
traverse1584
move1594
to shake heels1595
to shake it1595
firk1596
tripudiate1623
pettitoe1651
step1698
jink1718
to stand up1753
bejig1821
to toe and heel (it)1828
morris1861
hoof1925
terp1945
society > leisure > dancing > [verb (transitive)]
leadOE
dancec1300
foota1500
move1568
trip1627
morris1844
c1300 K. Alis. 5213 Mery time it is in May..Maydens so dauncen and thay play.
1388 Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) 2 Sam. vi. 14 Dauid..daunside with all strengthis bifor the Lord.
1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 147/3 He..sente them into the gardyn to daunse & to carolle.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 361 After dynner men avaunced them to daunce eche man with eche woman.
1645 J. Milton L'Allegro in Poems 34 Many a youth, and many a maid, Dancing in the Chequer'd shade.
1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 466. ⁋3 You shall see her dance, or, if you will do her that Honour, dance with her.
1884 M. E. Braddon Ishmael ix I never danced with any one in my life until to-day. I have danced by myself in the yard sometimes when there was an organ.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > unmarried person(s) > unmarried woman > [verb (intransitive)] > remain unmarried or be old maid
to lead apes in hell1578
to dance barefoota1616
a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) ii. i. 33 She must haue a husband, I must dance bare-foot on her wedding day, And for your loue to her, leade Apes in hell. View more context for this quotation
1742 M. Delany Autobiogr. & Corr. (1861) II. 188 The eldest daughter was much disappointed that she should dance barefoot, and desired her father to find out a match for her.
c. Of animals taught to perform certain regular movements.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > by locomotion > locomotion of animals > [verb (intransitive)] > move about
raika1250
rakec1460
dance?1515
?1515 Hyckescorner (de Worde) sig. C.iii Than sholde ye daunce as a bere.
1854 J. G. Wood Sketches Animal Life 210 The education of most bears seldom aspires beyond teaching the animal to stand on its hind legs, and raise each foot alternately, a performance popularly entitled ‘dancing’.
d. transferred and figurative.
ΚΠ
c1430 J. Lydgate tr. Bochas Fall of Princes (1544) i. viii. 11 a Beware afore or ye daunce in the rowe Of such as Fortune hath from her whele ithrow.
1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII v. iii. 62 I haue some of 'em in Limbo Patrum, and there they are like to dance these three dayes. View more context for this quotation
e. to dance to or after (a person's) pipe, whistle, etc.: figurative to follow his lead, act after his desire or instigation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > imitation > imitate [verb (intransitive)] > follow an example
borrow?c1225
to walk in (or tread) a person's stepsa1240
to take example from (also by, at, of)c1405
to dance to or after (a person's) pipe, whistle1546
patrizate1623
patrizizea1642
to follow suit1747
to take a leaf out of a person's book1809
pattern1820
society > authority > subjection > obedience > obey or be obedient to [verb (transitive)] > comply with the will of
suea1300
conform1482
to dance to or after (a person's) pipe, whistle1546
morigerate1623
comply1650
correspond1677
supple1741
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. vi. sig. I To daunce after her pipe, I am ny led.
1604 T. Middleton Ant & Nightingale sig. C2v Till the old deuourer..Death, had made our Landlord daunce after his Pipe.
1707 J. Norris Pract. Treat. Humility iii. 98 When a man..dances to the tune of the age wherein he lives.
1823 W. Scott Peveril I. vi. 161 I thought I had the prettiest girl in the Castle dancing after my whistle.
1845 S. Austin tr. L. von Ranke Hist. Reformation in Germany (ed. 2) I. 523 That most of these councillors..will ‘dance to Rome's piping’, if they do but see her gold.
2.
a. To leap, skip, spring, or move up and down, with continuously recurring movement, from excitement or strong emotion. Said also of the lively skipping or prancing of animals, and of the heart, the blood in the veins, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > excitement > be or become excited [verb (intransitive)] > leap or skip with excitement
dancec1400
to jump (also leap) out of one's skin1567
c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 345 Þoȝ þou daunce as any do, Braundysch, & brais þy braþez breme.
c1400–50 Alexander 2618 For þe dowt of þe dyn daunced stedis.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. gviv Some were constrayned to leape and daunce for ioye.
1553 R. Eden tr. S. Münster Treat. Newe India sig. Ei The woman runneth vp and down, daunsing continually like a frantike bodie.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) i. ii. 112 I haue Tremor Cordis on me: my heart daunces, But not for ioy. View more context for this quotation
a1720 J. Sheffield Wks. (1753) I. 160 The blood more lively danc'd within our veins.
1792 S. Rogers Pleasures Mem. i. 142 When the heart danced, and life was in its spring.
1819 C. Lamb in Examiner 14 Feb. 109/1 He saw, unseen, the happy girl unfold the Valentine, dance about, clap her hands.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Enid in Idylls of King 27 Yniol's heart Danced in his bosom, seeing better days.
b. To run, go, or move on with dancing or tripping motion.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > upward movement > leaping, springing, or jumping > leap, spring, or jump [verb (intransitive)] > caper
leapc900
playOE
floxec1200
startlec1300
trancec1374
prancec1380
tripc1386
scoupa1400
prankc1450
gambol1508
frisk?1520
jeta1529
pract1568
trounce1568
trip1578
capriole1580
lavolta1590
linch1593
curvet1595
flisk1595
firk1596
caper1598
jaunce1599
risec1599
cabre1600
jaunt1605
skit1611
to cut a caper or capersa1616
tripudiate1623
insult1652
to fike and flinga1689
scamper1691
dance1712
pranklea1717
cavort1794
jinket1823
gambado1827
caracol1861
1712 J. Arbuthnot Law is Bottomless-pit i. x. 19 How you have danc'd the Round of all the Courts.
1820 W. Scott Abbot II. ix. 273 The moments..danced so rapidly away.
1820 W. Scott Abbot III. vii. 224 Some sprightly damsel, who thinks to dance through life as through a French galliard.
1872 W. Black Strange Adventures Phaeton ii. 20 These boys of twenty-five will dance over the world's edge in pursuit of a theory.
3.
a. Of things inanimate: To bob up and down on the ground, on the surface of water, in the air, etc. Often with personification or figurative reference to gay and sprightly motion.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > move to and fro or up and down [verb (intransitive)]
to come and goc1384
babble1440
play1513
popple1555
dance1563
bob1568
dodge1645
waft1650
reciprocate1678
lollop1851
pump1887
piston1930
yo-yo1967
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > move to and fro or up and down [verb (intransitive)] > bob
dance1563
boba1794
bobble1812
1563 W. Fulke Goodle Gallerye Causes Meteors ii. f. 7v The flame appeareth to leape or daunce from one parte to the other, much lyke as balls of wylde fyer daunce vp and downe in the water.
1567 T. Drant tr. Horace Pistles in tr. Horace Arte of Poetrie sig. Fvj Whilst thy ship doth kepe a flote Ydauncinge on the plaine.
1665 R. Hooke Micrographia 231 Why the limb of the Sun, Moon, Jupiter..and Venus, appear to move or dance.
1679 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. viii. 139 Care must be taken that the Bressummers and Girders be not weakned more than needs, least the whole Floor dance.
1812 H. Smith & J. Smith Rejected Addr. 13 Light as the mote that daunceth in the beam.
1884 Queen Victoria More Leaves 138 The little boat rolled and danced.
b. Grimly applied to the movements of the body in or after death by hanging; to dance upon nothing, to be hanged.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > capital punishment > hanging > be hanged [verb (intransitive)]
rideeOE
hangc1000
anhangc1300
wagc1430
totter?1515
to wave in the windc1515
swing1542
trine1567
to look through ——?1570
to preach at Tyburn cross1576
stretch?1576
to stretch a rope1592
truss1592
to look through a hempen window?a1600
gibbet1600
to have the lift1604
to salute Tyburn1640
to dance the Tyburn jig1664
dangle1678
to cut a caper on nothing1708
string1714
twist1725
to wallop in a tow (also tether)1786
to streek in a halter1796
to straight a ropea1800
strap1815
to dance upon nothing1837
to streek a tow1895
1837 J. Richardson Brit. Legion (ed. 2) viii. 210 To see a fellow-being dancing in air after death, in the manner practised in England.
1839 W. H. Ainsworth Jack Sheppard III. iii. xxxi. 292 ‘You'll dance upon nothing, presently’, rejoined Jonathan, brutally.
1858 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia II. viii. iv. 322 This poor soldier, six feet three, your Majesty, is to dance on the top of nothing for a three-halfpenny matter!
4. † b. to dance Barnaby: to dance to a quick movement, move expeditiously. to dance the Tyburn jig: to be hanged: cf. 3b. Obsolete.
a. transitive with the name or description of a dance or measure as cognate object.
ΚΠ
c1385 G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (MS. Gg) Prol. 200 Daunsynge aboute this flour an esy pas.
1509 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure xvi. xix To daunce true mesures without varyaunce.
1599 H. Porter Pleasant Hist. Two Angrie Women of Abington sig. G4v They have daunst a Galliard at Beggers bush for it.
a1627 T. Middleton Chast Mayd in Cheape-side (1630) iv. 53 As if they'd daunce the Sword-dance on the Stage.
1762 O. Goldsmith Life R. Nash 34 A minuet, danced by two persons.
1844 E. FitzGerald Lett. (1889) I. 142 If you could see the little girl dance the Polka with her sister!
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > style or manner of dancing > [verb (intransitive)]
frisk?1520
hobble1535
caper1598
to cut a caper or capersa1616
to dance Barnaby1664
to dance low1667
jig1672
to fike and flinga1689
shuffle1819
slow-step1909
dingolay1935
touch-dance1972
headbang1977
to funk out1979
to strut one's funky stuff1979
krump2004
the world > action or operation > manner of action > rapidity or speed of action or operation > proceed rapidly [verb (intransitive)] > act expeditiously
to make (it) short1490
dispatch1581
to be brief1609
to claw it off1615
to dance Barnaby1664
society > authority > punishment > capital punishment > hanging > be hanged [verb (intransitive)]
rideeOE
hangc1000
anhangc1300
wagc1430
totter?1515
to wave in the windc1515
swing1542
trine1567
to look through ——?1570
to preach at Tyburn cross1576
stretch?1576
to stretch a rope1592
truss1592
to look through a hempen window?a1600
gibbet1600
to have the lift1604
to salute Tyburn1640
to dance the Tyburn jig1664
dangle1678
to cut a caper on nothing1708
string1714
twist1725
to wallop in a tow (also tether)1786
to streek in a halter1796
to straight a ropea1800
strap1815
to dance upon nothing1837
to streek a tow1895
1664 C. Cotton Scarronides 15 Bounce cries the Port-hole, out they fly And make the World dance Barnaby.
1664 G. Etherege Comical Revenge v. ii. 71 Widow, here is Musique; send for a Parson, And we will dance Barnaby within this Half hour.
1697 J. Vanbrugh Relapse Epil. 106 Did ever one yet dance the Tyburn Jigg With a free air, ar a well pawder'd Wigg?
5. to dance attendance: to wait (upon a person) with assiduous attention and ready obsequiousness; originally to stand waiting or ‘kicking one's heels’ in an antechamber. See also attendance n. 5.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > humility > servility > be servile [verb (intransitive)] > attend in servile manner
to dance attendancea1529
a1529 J. Skelton Why come ye nat to Courte (?1545) 626 And Syr ye must daunce attendance, And take patient sufferaunce, For my Lords Grace, Hath now no time or space, To speke with you as yet.
1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII v. ii. 30 To suffer A man of his Place..To dance attendance on their Lordships pleasures, And at the dore too, like a Post with Packets. View more context for this quotation
a1674 T. Traherne Christian Ethicks (1675) 380 Few have observed that the Sun, and Moon, and Stars dance attendance to it [sc. the earth], and cherish it with their Influences.
1768 T. Gray in Let. 29 May in Corr. (1971) III. 1033 Here are a pair of your stray shoes, dancing attendance, till you send for them.
1883 J. Gilmour Among Mongols xxxi. 362 After dancing attendance on the court for a month or two they receive their dismission.
6. causal.
a. To lead in a dance, cause to dance.
ΚΠ
1665 S. Pepys Diary 11 Oct. (1972) VI. 263 Having danced my people as long as I saw fit to sit up, I to bed.
1762 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy VI. ii. 3 When my father had danced his white bear backwards and forwards through half a dozen pages.
1773 O. Goldsmith She stoops to Conquer i. 11 Tho' I am obligated to dance a bear, a man may be a gentleman for all that.
b. To move or toss up and down with a dancing jerky motion; to dandle.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > move to and fro or up and down [verb (transitive)] > jog or jolt to and fro or up and down > a child on the knee
dance1382
dandle1530
trot1853
1382 J. Wyclif Isa. lxvi. 12 Vp on the knes men shul daunte [ MS. H. a1450 daunsen] ȝou.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. x. sig. Liv In hope..In hir dotyng daies to be daunst on the lappe.
a1640 J. Fletcher & P. Massinger Spanish Curat ii. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. E4/1 I have dandled ye, and kist ye and plaid with ye..and danc'd ye.
1681 W. Robertson Phraseologia generalis (1693) 418 To dance a child in one's arms.
1773 F. Burney Early Jrnls. & Lett. (1988) I. 281 It was no sport to me to be Danced up & down, & to find the Waves..rougher every instant.
1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam Epil. 205 I that danced her on my knee. View more context for this quotation
7. With complement: To remove, put, bring, impel, etc., off, away, out, in, etc., by dancing.
ΚΠ
a1634 W. Austin Devotionis Augustinianæ Flamma (1635) 208 So was the blessed head of John..danced off his shoulders by a Harlot.
1787 Generous Attachm. I. 200 I danced away the recollection of it.
1812 Ld. Byron Waltz vii Her nimble feet danced off another's head.
1856 C. Merivale Hist. Romans under Empire V. l. 557 That an obscure player..should dance himself into the chamber of the empress.
1880 G. Meredith Tragic Comedians I. iv. 57 Like a lady danced off her sense of fixity.
1894 N.E.D. at Dance Mod. I fear he has danced away his chance.
8. U.S. (now historical). In former North American Indian tradition: to rejoice over by dancing round (a trophy, esp. a captured scalp).
ΚΠ
1841 G. Catlin Lett. N. Amer. Indians I. 31 After having been formally ‘danced’, as the saying is, (i.e. after it [sc. a scalp] has been stuck up upon a pole..and the warriors have danced around it for two or three weeks at intervals).
1846 R. B. Sage Scenes Rocky Mts. (1859) 126 Rarely did we return empty-handed from the foeman's land—without..scalps to dance.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1894; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.c1300v.c1300