dance

/dɑːns/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Northern England/dans/

dance noun: a sequence of rhythmic steps or movements usually performed to music, for pleasure or as a form of social interaction. Also the ellipsis of electronic dance music.

Image: che, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

dance (countable and uncountable, plural dances)

A sequence of rhythmic steps or movements usually performed to music, for pleasure or as a form of social interaction.
- I do a dance when she plays the drums!
- He does the Gangnam Style dance with his friends in school.
A social gathering where dancing is the main activity.
- The dance we had in August 2008 is one of the greatest moments of my life!
- "I ought to arise and go forth with timbrels and with dances; but, do you know, I am not inclined to revels? There has been a little—just a very little bit too much festivity so far …. Not that I don't adore dinners and gossip and dances; not that I do not love to pervade bright and glittering...1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter II, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC
(uncountable) The art, profession, and study of dancing.
A piece of music with a particular dance rhythm.
- They stayed together during three dances, went out on to the terrace, explored wherever they were permitted to explore, paid two visits to the buffet, and enjoyed themselves much in the same way as if they had been school-children surreptitiously breaking loose from an assembly of grown-ups.1909 September 9, Archibald Marshall [pseudonym; Arthur Hammond Marshall], “A Court Ball”, in The Squire’s Daughter, London: Methuen & Co. […], →OCLC, page 9
(figuratively) A battle of wits, especially one commonly fought between two rivals.
- So how much longer are we gonna do this dance?
(dated, figuratively) Any strenuous or difficult movement, action, or task.
- He that would watch the king's hares must not drag himself along as if he was a lazybones with soles of lead to his boots, or like a fly on a tar-brush, for when the hares began to scamper about on the hill-sides it was quite another dance than lying at home and catching fleas with mittens on.1886, Peter Christen Asbjø￵rnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 170
A repetitive movement used in communication between worker honey bees.
- 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.1961 November, W. Wittekindt, “An Understanding of Dancing Behaviour”, in G. H. Cale, editor, The American Bee Journal, volume 101, number 11, Hamilton, page 434

Verb

dance (third-person singular simple present dances, present participle dancing, simple past and past participle danced)

(intransitive) To move with rhythmic steps or movements, especially in time to music.
- I danced with her all night long.
- These drum beats are making me dance!
Synonyms:

throw shapes
(figuratively, intransitive) To leap or move lightly and rapidly.
- 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,1812–1818, George Gordon [Lord] Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, canto 2, verse 54
(transitive) To perform the steps to.
- Have you ever danced the tango?
Synonyms:

do the deed
(transitive) To cause to dance, or move nimbly or merrily about.
- 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.c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First...
- Thy grandsire loved thee well; / Many a time he danced thee on his knee.c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
(euphemistic, figuratively) To make love or have sex.
- You make me feel like dancing.
To make a repetitive movement in order to communicate to other worker honey bees.
- 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.1961 November, W. Wittekindt, “An Understanding of Dancing Behaviour”, in G. H. Cale, editor, The American Bee Journal, volume 101, number 11, Hamilton, page 434
(euphemistic, figuratively) To kick and convulse from the effects of being hanged.
- 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...1907, Literary Digest, volume 34, page 364
- 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.1926, Walter Noble Burns, The Saga of Billy the Kid, page 250

Noun (2)

dance (plural dances)

A normally horizontal stripe called a fess that has been modified to zig-zag across the center of a coat of arms from dexter to sinister.
- The fact appears to have been that Simon de Montacute bore two coats; the one, Argent, three fusils, which it is most probable was a corruption of a fess dancette, or a dance, Gules; and the other, Azure, a griffin segreant[…]1828, Sir Nicholas Harris Nicolas, Walter (of Exeter), The Siege of Carlaverock in the XXVIII Edward I. A. D. MCCC, page 243
- It is as follows - being headed by a shield of arms in colours - gold with a dance gules between three croslets fitchy gules.1902, The Ancestor: A Quarterly Review of County and Family History, Heraldry and Antiquities ..., page 85

Proper noun capitalized: Dance

Dance (plural Dances)

A surname.

Also used as

dance is also the ellipsis of electronic dance music.

dance meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

dance in Hindi

movements to music: नाच nāc, नृत्य nŕtya
move rhythmically to music: नाचना nācnā, नृत्य करना nŕtya karnā

dance in Tamil

movements to music: ஆடல் āṭal, கூத்து kūttu, நடனம் naṭaṉam
move rhythmically to music: ஆடு āṭu, கூத்தாடு kūttāṭu, நடனமாடு naṭaṉamāṭu

dance in Marathi

movements to music: नाच nāc, नृत्य nŕtya
move rhythmically to music: नाचणे nācṇe, नृत्य करणे nŕtya karṇe

dance in Urdu

movements to music: رَقْص raqs, ناچ nāc
move rhythmically to music: ناچْنا nācnā

More languagesFewer languages

dance in Bengali: নৃত্য nritto, নাচা naca
dance in Telugu: నృత్యం nr̥tyaṁ, నర్తించు nartiñcu
dance in Malayalam: ആട്ടം āṭṭaṁ, നാട്യം nāṭyaṁ, നൃത്തം nr̥ttaṁ, ആടുക āṭuka
dance in Kannada: ನೃತ್ಯ nṛtya
dance in Punjabi: ਡਾਂਸ ḍāns
dance in Sanskrit: नटनम् naṭanam, नाट्यम् nāṭyam, नृत्तम् nṛttam, नट naṭa
dance in Sinhala: නටනවා naṭanawā
dance in Assamese: নাচ nas, নাচোন nasün, নৃত্য nriitto, নচা nosa
dance in Pashto: رقص raqs, ډانس ḍāns, ناچ nāč, رخس raxs
dance in Tagalog: sayaw, indak, sumayaw
dance in Arabic: رَقْص raqṣ, رقص raʔṣ, شطيح šṭīḥ, رَقَصَ raqaṣa
dance in Malay: tari, menari
dance in Indonesian: tari, menari
dance in Persian: رَقْص raqs, دانْس dâns, پایْکوبی pâykubi, رَقْصیدَن raġsidan
dance in Thai: เต้นรำ dtên-ram, รำ ram, เต้น dtên
dance in Vietnamese: điệu múa, điệu nhảy, nhảy múa, khiêu vũ
dance in Myanmar: အက a.ka., က ka.
Kashmiri: ناچ nāc, نَژُن naċun

Examples of dance in a sentence

"I ought to arise and go forth with timbrels and with dances; but, do you know, I am not inclined to revels?1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter II, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
Not that I don't adore dinners and gossip and dances; not that I do not love to pervade bright and glittering places.[…]"1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter II, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
“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.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company...
Sweet visions of you / Will dance through my head / Tonight while I lie / Awake in my bed1975, Ecstasy, Passion & Pain, “One Beautiful Day”:

All 40 example sentences with dance

Synonyms of dance

Forms of dance

Noun
plural	dances
alternative form (obsolete)	daunce
Verb
third-person singular present	dances
present participle	dancing
past participle	danced
past	danced
Proper noun
plural	Dances

Past tense of dance: danced

Plural of dance: dances

Origin of dance

Inherited from Middle English dauncen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman dauncer, from Vulgar Latin *dantiāre, of uncertain origin. Displaced native Old English sealtian, Old English frīcian, and partially displaced Old English hlēapan (“to leap, dance, run”, whence modern leap). Doublet of danza.

Related to dancy, dancetté, French danché.

Phrases with dance

162 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with dance

4 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about dance

What does dance mean?: Dance means a sequence of rhythmic steps or movements usually performed to music, for pleasure or as a form of social interaction.
What is dance in Hindi?: Dance in Hindi is नाच (nāc), नृत्य (nŕtya), नाचना (nācnā). See Dance meaning in Hindi.
How do you use dance in a sentence?: "I ought to arise and go forth with timbrels and with dances; but, do you know, I am not inclined to revels?
What part of speech is dance?: Dance can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce dance?: Dance is pronounced /dɑːns/ (UK).
What is the plural of dance?: The plural of dance is dances.

Words near dance in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: dance (page history and authors); Dance (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-dance.ogg, En-us-dance.ogg.

Cite this entry: “dance.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dance. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.