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Glite Dictionary
to waltz around

to waltz around

3.7
To dance slowly and smoothly while moving around a room
  • phrasal verb
  • /wɔlts əˈraʊnd/
translation icon : bailar un vals
  • The sisters waltzed around the table to the "Graduation Ball," dipping and rising, throwing heads back and forth, linked and laughing, full skirts, lace petticoats, soft hair swirling in the white light like foam.
  • waltzing around the room

Examples

  • Pauline gasps as Diello takes her by the waist and waltzes around the room.

  • I'd waltz around the kitchen in my pajamas, getting a little dizzy, everything blurring into romantic confusion, my body as light as a feather.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Do you remember the two sisters waltzing around the dining table?

    Fiction book (1996)

  • The couple waltzing around me at the Embassy at 9 and 11.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • Pauline gasps as Diello takes her by the waist and waltzes around the room.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • After that, Kiya let go of my hand and waltzed around before turning back toward me.

  • Giggling, I began to waltz around Edith's room, holding my skirts up, showing off my new silk dancing slippers.

Synonyms

to dance
vsto waltz around
579 1.0

To move quickly and lightly from side to side or up and down

is done with graceful flowing steps while moving around a room
to waltz
vsto waltz around
44 3.2

To dance in three beats with graceful turns

moves gracefully around a room instead of focusing on the music's rhythm

Antonyms

to stand still
75 1.0

Stay upright in one place without moving

How Graceful

to glide
89 2.9
to waltz around
3.7
to stumble
129 1.6

Surface Forms

waltz around infinitive
waltzed around past
waltzed around past participle
waltzing around present participle
waltzes around third person singular

Morphology

waltz + around

The meaning 'to dance a waltz around a room' is directly and compositionally derived from 'waltz' (to dance a waltz) plus 'around' (moving in a circular path). This verb + directional/adverbial pattern is a standard, cross-linguistically common composition and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

Waltz around comes from the dance called the waltz, where couples turn and move around the room in smooth, flowing steps. So the image of turning gently across the floor is why it means 'to dance a waltz around a room or area' and to move gracefully.