GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English
last match results
Found 3 definitions
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Dance (dȧns), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Danced (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Dancing.] [F. danser, fr. OHG. dansōn to draw; akin to dinsan to draw, Goth. apinsan, and prob. from the same root (meaning to stretch) as E. thin. See Thin.]
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.
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Jack shall pipe and Gill shall dance. Wither.
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Good shepherd, what fair swain is this
Which dances with your daughter? Shak.
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2. To move nimbly or merrily; to express pleasure by motion; to caper; to frisk; to skip about.
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Then, 'tis time to dance off. Thackeray.
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More dances my rapt heart
Than when I first my wedded mistress saw. Shak.
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Shadows in the glassy waters dance. Byron.
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Where rivulets dance their wayward round. Wordsworth.
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To dance on a rope, or To dance on nothing, to be hanged.
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Dance (?), v. t. To cause to dance, or move nimbly or merrily about, or up and down; to dandle.
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To dance our ringlets to the whistling wind. Shak.
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Thy grandsire loved thee well;
Many a time he danced thee on his knee. Shak.
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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.
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A man of his place, and so near our favor,
To dance attendance on their lordships' pleasure. Shak.
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Dance, n. [F. danse, of German origin. See Dance, v. i.]
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.
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2. (Mus.) A tune by which dancing is regulated, as the minuet, the waltz, the cotillion, etc.
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☞ The word dance was used ironically, by the older writers, of many proceedings besides dancing.
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Of remedies of love she knew parchance
For of that art she couth the olde dance. Chaucer.
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Dance of Death (Art), 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.
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