D defs.my
Menu ☰
Entry 5 senses · 3 variants Webster, 1913

Dance

/(dȧns)/ · IPA /dæns/
01 v. i. To move with measured steps, or to a musical accompaniment; to go through, either alone or in company with others, with a regulated success…
imp. & p. p. Danced; p. pr. & vb. n. Dancing
  1. 1.
    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.” — Wither.
    “Good shepherd, what fair swain is this Which dances with your daughter?” — Shak.
  2. 2.
    To move nimbly or merrily; to express pleasure by motion; to caper; to frisk; to skip about.
    “Then, 'tis time to dance off.” — Thackeray.
    “More dances my rapt heart Than when I first my wedded mistress saw.” — Shak.
    “Shadows in the glassy waters dance.” — Byron.
    “Where rivulets dance their wayward round.” — Wordsworth.
Phrases & compounds
To dance on a rope — to be hanged.
02 v. t. To cause to dance, or move nimbly or merrily about, or up and down; to dandle.
  1. 1.
    To cause to dance, or move nimbly or merrily about, or up and down; to dandle.
    “To dance our ringlets to the whistling wind.” — Shak.
    “Thy grandsire loved thee well; Many a time he danced thee on his knee.” — Shak.
    “A man of his place, and so near our favor, To dance attendance on their lordships' pleasure.” — Shak.
Phrases & compounds
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.
03 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…
  1. 1.
    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.
  2. 2.
    A tune by which dancing is regulated, as the minuet, the waltz, the cotillon, etc.(Mus.)
    “Of remedies of love she knew parchance For of that art she couth the olde dance.” — Chaucer.
Phrases & compounds
Dance of Death — 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.