square dance
3
3.3
- noun
- /skwɛr dæns/
- US
:
baile cuadrado
- The Stoney Mountain Cloggers, a square dance team dressed in gingham and plaids, do bluegrass turns as Grant Turner, the announcer, introduces the Prince Albert segment.
- square dance lessons
- a big square dance
Examples
-
I even had the unprecedented opportunity that week to attend a square dance.
Academic text (2006) -
The square dance was a way of reaffirming all that was good about life.
Blog text (33) -
Everybody line up for a square dance.
-
Half of us at the square dance had come without partners.
Fiction book (1997) -
He picked me up at a square dance.
-
You never know where you'll wind up when you go to a square dance.
-
Whenever there was a community square dance, the high school boys clustered around her.
Fiction book (1990) -
"I've been thinking we ought to organize a square dance."
Fiction book (2001) -
When Uncle Andy pulled out his fiddle, everyone lined up to take part in an old-fashioned square dance, laughing as they swung their partners around in circles.
Fiction book (2002) -
At the summer fair, we all gathered to enjoy a lively square dance under the stars.
Synonyms
3
3.2
A country dance for four couples who face each other and follow a caller
1
9.9
A lively square dance for four couples with set steps
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to perform a square dance' is directly compositional from 'square' (a specific formation/shape) + 'dance' (a type of dance): it names a dance done in a square formation. This follows a regular modifier+noun pattern that a B1 learner who knows both words can reasonably infer, although precise cultural details (caller, specific figures) would need exposure.
Etymology
Square dance: The noun square dance comes from the clear picture of four couples standing in a square while a 'caller' calls the dance steps, so the name began to mean this particular group dance.