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Glite Dictionary
🤘 To dance wildly 🤘 A rough dance
to slam dance

to slam dance

1 8.7
To dance by bumping into other people on purpose, often at punk shows
  • phrasal verb
  • /slæm dæns/
  • Jargon
translation icon : slam dance
  • The atmosphere was electric when the band played their hit song, prompting fans to slam dance wildly.

Examples

  • He watched in awe as the crowd started to slam dance, bodies colliding with thrilling energy.

  • What, no one wants to slam dance?

    Surf Nazis Must Die (1987)

  • Seth mixes into the party and slam dances into ten other skins.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • At the punk concert, everyone began to slam dance as the music got louder and more intense.

Synonyms

to slam
vsto slam dance
  • Jargon
23 7.5

To dance with strong, fast movements at punk shows

is the full two-word phrase rather than the shortened label
to thrash
vsto slam dance
  • Jargon
3 7.9

Dance wildly and roughly at punk or metal concerts

focuses on the punk or hardcore scene rather than heavy metal contexts
to mosh
vsto slam dance
  • Slang
1 9.0

Dance roughly by jumping and pushing in a crowd at loud concerts

emphasizes slamming into others and aggressive collisions at punk shows

How Violent

to mosh
  • Slang
1 9.0
to slam dance
  • Jargon
1 8.7
to dance
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

slam dance infinitive
slammed dance past
slammed dance past participle
slamming dance present participle
slams dance third person singular

Morphology

slam + dance

The sense 'to dance in a violent/energetic way, often colliding with others' is directly inferable from combining 'slam' (to strike or push forcefully) with 'dance' (move rhythmically). Although learners might miss the subcultural association with punk/hardcore and mosh pits, the core action is compositionally transparent and predictable from the constituents.

Etymology

The verb slam dance comes from the same picture: to slam into other people while you dance at a punk or hardcore show. So it means 'to dance in a rough, energetic way, often by bumping into others'.