dance
Part of speech: verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: agriculture
beekeeping
business
lifestyle
Etymology: Etymology tree
Vulgar Latin *dantiāreder.
Anglo-Norman dauncerbor.
Middle English dauncen
English dance
From Middle English dauncen, from Anglo-Norman dauncer, from Vulgar Latin *dantiāre, of uncertain origin. Displaced Old English sealtian, and partially displaced Old English hlēapan (“to leap, dance, run”) (whence modern leap). Doublet of danza.
Inflected forms:
form: dances
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: dancing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: danced
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: danced
pos: verb
tags: past
form: daunce
pos: verb
tags: alternative
obsolete
Senses:
gloss: To move with rhythmic steps or movements, especially in time to music.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: I danced with her all night long.
These drum beats are making me dance!
“Well,” I answered, at first with uncertainty, then with inspiration, “he would do splendidly to lead your cotillon, if you think of having one.” ¶ “So you do not dance, Mr. Crocker?” ¶ I was somewhat set back by her perspicuity.
gloss: To leap or move lightly and rapidly.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
intransitive
examples: His eyes danced with pleasure as he spoke. She accused her political opponent of dancing around the issue instead of confronting it.
And woods along the banks are waving high, / Whose shadows in the glassy waters dance,
Sweet visions of you / Will dance through my head / Tonight while I lie / Awake in my bed
A common and beautiful side-effect of high solar activity is the Aurora Borealis - the northern lights that dance across Arctic skies.
gloss: To perform the steps to.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Have you ever danced the tango?
gloss: To cause to dance, or move nimbly or merrily about.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: 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.
Thy grandsire loved thee well; / Many a time he danced thee on his knee.
gloss: To make love or have sex.
pos: verb
tags: euphemistic
figuratively
examples: You make me feel like dancing.
gloss: To make a repetitive movement in order to communicate to other worker honey bees.
pos: verb
examples: It was seen that the readiness to dance and intensity of the dance are clearly increased when the temperature in the hive remained between 28-36° C.
gloss: To kick and convulse from the effects of being hanged.
pos: verb
tags: euphemistic
figuratively
examples: If that veil can be maintained, if the workers can be kept from knowing the perfidy of officials, the criminality of capitalism, the murderous vengeance that is planned by the plutocratic powers of America, then Charles Moyer, William D. Haywood, and George Pettibone will dance on empty air, while the ghouls of capitalism rejoice because they have landed another blow upon the body of resisting labor.
Beneath the shoulder blades of the limp form lying there lay the heart that had hated him, that had beat high at the thought of seeing him kick at the end of a hangman's rope, that had exulted in the prospect of him dancing a death dance on air.
Simon had seen other men executed at Berkeley, both in the castle and outside in the village. They were usually strung up like rats, left to dance, their death throes sometimes seeming to last forever.
'Hats off!' the shout went up, not out of respect for those about to die, but for a better view of their death dance. The hangman, who was as drunk as anyone else, uncoiled the rope's free end from each prisoner in turn and threw it up to an assistant balanced precariously on the beam above. Each was tightly fastened, leaving very little slack. When the moment came, the carts would be driven out from under the prisoners, leaving them dancing the Tyburn jig, their legs paddling helplessly in the air.
Not only will you be whipped, but Jack Ketch will be displeased. He knows how to attach the rope just so...a man's neck can be snaped in an instant and he feels pain for a moment only. Or, at Ketch's pleasure, the man swings in the air, his legs dance in an ungainly manner, his face turns red, his tongue turns purple and protrudes - a poor devil once bit off the tip and spit it out, and he chocked(sic) to death.
Initially, all hanging deaths were by the short rope. The victims strangled as they performed a twitching death dance. Over time there was a move to a longer rope. The extra drop meant the victim's neck snapped, causing a more humane death. For a long time adter the long rope was introduced, stories circulated around Aberdeen of executioners slipping in the short rope for criminals convicted of particularly heinous crimes, especially for crimes against children. No quick end for these devils. A slow dancing death, courtesy of the short rope, brouht in by canny executioners.
Synonyms: get some
have sex
Related words: acrobatics
ballet
ballroom
disco
foxtrot
hiphop
jazz
modern
musical theatre
tap dancing
terpsichorean
Derived words: breakdance
dancer
sky-dance
angels dancing on the head of a pin
baby dance
bedance
braindance
danceability
danceable
dance around
dance attendance
dance out
dance the hempen jig
dance the Tyburn jig
dance to a different tune
dance to a new tune
dance to someone's tune
dance upon nothing
dance with the devil
dance with the one that brought you
dancing juice
dancing links
dancingly
dancingness
dirty dance
line dance
nondancing
outdance
put on one's dancing shoes
undanced
undancing
underdanced
Translations: