disco

Pluraldiscos (some meanings)

Formsdiscos, discoing, discoed

1. 1
   1970s musicnoununcountable

   A genre of dance music, popular in the 1970s, that draws on soul, funk and Latin music, with a steady four-on-the-floor beat, lush strings and a prominent bass line.

   The station plays nothing but disco on Friday nights.

   Her new single borrows from disco, with sweeping strings and a thumping bass line.

   UsageFor the music in general, say dance to disco or play disco; a disco is a club or a party.

   Note

   Marcus Reeves, in Somebody Scream!, describes disco as the form in which black music became a hot commodity, its rhythm helping people dance and escape their concerns. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • Marcus Reeves, in Somebody Scream!, describes disco as making black music a hot commodity and helping people dance and escape their concerns. en.wiktionary.org
2. 2
   nightclubnoundatedcountableabbreviationclipping

   Short for discotheque: a nightclub where people dance to recorded music.

   They met at a disco in Miami and danced there until closing time.

   The city council shut the disco down after months of noise complaints.

   UsageClub and nightclub are the more current words; people go to a disco.

   Similarnightclub, club

   Note

   It counts like any venue (a disco, two discos), and in the Smiths' “Panic” (1986) it is the place where the DJ plays, and the song calls for both the club and the DJ to be done away with.

3. 3
   dance partynounBritishcountable or uncountable

   A social gathering at which dancing is the main activity; a dance.

   The rugby club is putting on a disco to celebrate the end of the season.

   There's a disco after the wedding breakfast, so bring your dancing shoes.

   UsageUsually put on or hold a disco: a school disco, a wedding disco.

   Similardance, party

   Note

   British English uses the word for an occasion rather than a place. A disco is put on or held, and it is over when the evening ends, whereas the nightclub is somewhere you go back to. It is close to dance in that social sense, and in British use the two words often name the same evening.

4. 4
   danceverbintransitive

   To dance to disco music, or to go out to discotheques to dance.

   Grandpa can still disco better than anyone else on the floor.

   They discoed under the mirror ball until the lights came up.

   UsageEndings go straight on: she discos, they discoed, discoing.

   Note

   The phrase disco dancing often does the same work, as in Roger Ebert's I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie, with its "wild night of disco dancing." Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Roger Ebert wrote I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie. publishing.andrewsmcmeel.com
   • The book contains the exact phrase "wild night of disco dancing." en.wiktionary.org

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