# dance

Pronunciation: US/AUS say "DANS" /dæns/; UK say "DAHNS" /dɑːns/

## Verb

1. To move rhythmically with steps, usually to music, or to perform a particular dance such as a waltz.
   - Simple: To move your body in time to music, or to do a certain dance such as a tango.
   - _Couples dance across the floor as the band plays a slow waltz._
   - _He danced gracefully through the entire performance._
6. To skip, leap, or flit about with quick, light movements.
   - Simple: To move quickly and lightly, jumping or skipping about.
   - _Reflections of the streetlights danced across the wet pavement._
   - _Leaves dance in the cold wind along the path._
9. To cause someone or something to move nimbly or merrily about.
   - Simple: To make someone or something move about lightly or merrily.
   - _On Saturday mornings she would dance the kids around the living room to old records._
   - _He danced his partner the length of the ballroom._
11. To make love or have sex, expressed in a playful or suggestive way.
   - Simple: To have sex, said in a soft or playful way.
   - _Once the kids were finally asleep, she tugged him toward the bedroom and whispered that it was time to dance._
   - _By the end of that summer, the two of them had danced together under the sheets more than once._
12. To kick and convulse as a result of being hanged.
   - Simple: To kick and shake while being hanged by the neck.
   - _The highwayman danced at the rope's end as the crowd fell silent._
   - _In old ballads, a highwayman who got caught would usually dance at the end of a rope._

## Noun

2. A series of rhythmic steps or movements, usually performed to music for pleasure or as a way of socializing.
   - Simple: A set of rhythmic steps and movements done to music, often for fun or to be with others.
   - _Before the music started, the instructor broke the dance into simple steps so the beginners could follow along._
   - _She choreographed a graceful dance for the spring recital._
3. The art, profession, and study of moving rhythmically to music.
   - Simple: The art and skill of moving to music, learned or done as a job.
   - _He devoted his life to dance, both as a performer and a teacher._
   - _The university offers degrees in dance and music._
4. A party or social event organized mainly around dancing.
   - Simple: An event where people come together mainly to dance.
   - _Half the town turned up for the harvest dance on Saturday night._
   - _The officers' dance was the social event of the season._
5. Popular music, mostly electronic, made for dancing in clubs, including styles such as house, techno and trance.
   - Simple: Music, usually made with electronic instruments, that is meant for people to dance to in clubs.
   - _The radio station dropped classic rock and switched to dance, filling its late-night hours with looping beats and sampled vocals._
   - _He produces dance in a small home studio._
7. A musical composition written in the rhythm of a particular dance.
   - Simple: A piece of music written with the beat of a certain dance.
   - _The suite closes with a stately dance in triple time._
   - _Baroque composers often included a dance between the slower sections._
8. A delicate, skillfully handled sequence of moves and countermoves between people or forces, seen as like a dance.
   - Simple: A careful set of moves and replies between people or groups, like partners dancing together.
   - _The talks became an elaborate diplomatic dance, each side testing how far the other would bend._
   - _The central bank's dance with the markets means hinting at rate changes long before making them._

## Noun

10. Any task, action, or movement that is strenuous or hard to carry out. *(dated)*
   - Simple: A hard or tiring job or struggle.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A repetitive movement used by worker honey bees to communicate with one another.
- (verb) Of a worker honey bee, to perform a repeated pattern of movements that passes information to others in the hive.
- (noun) A horizontal band modified into a zigzag, crossing the center of a coat of arms from one side to the other.

## Origin

Vulgar Latin *dantiāre, whose origin is uncertain, became Anglo-Norman dauncer and then Middle English dauncen. It replaced Old English sealtian and partly replaced Old English hlēapan, meaning "to leap, dance, run," the source of modern leap.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/dance (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).