square dancer
- noun
- /skwɛr ˈdænsər/
- US
:
bailarín de baile cuadrado
- A former used-car salesman, a confessed embezzler, your father, good square dancer.
Examples
-
She met new friends at the local park while joining a group of enthusiastic square dancers every Saturday evening.
-
Everyone joined hands like square dancers in a circle, but as the caller, I held back.
Fiction book (1999) -
Cutest square dancer.
-
They were baton-whirling girls, hillbilly singers, and square dancers.
Fiction book (1993) -
During the festival, many square dancers enjoyed performing lively routines to traditional music.
-
At the community center, a group of square dancers practiced their steps in preparation for the upcoming dance invitation.
Synonyms
514
1.0
A person who moves their body to music
1
3.4
A person who performs traditional dances, often with a group
A person who moves to music with others at parties for fun
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a person who takes part in square dancing' is directly derivable from combining 'square' (referring to the dance style or formation) with 'dancer' (someone who dances). This is a regular modifier+noun compound and follows a common, cross-linguistic pattern, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily understand it.
Etymology
The noun square dancer comes from a type of folk dance where four couples form a clear square and move together to a caller's steps. So a square dancer is simply a dancer who 'dances in a square', which explains why the name means someone who takes part in that dance.