1.
[syn: danse macabre, dance of death]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Dance \Dance\, n. [F. danse, of German origin. See Dance, v.
i.]
1. The leaping, tripping, or measured stepping of one who
dances; an amusement, in which the movements of the
persons are regulated by art, in figures and in accord
with music.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Mus.) A tune by which dancing is regulated, as the
minuet, the waltz, the cotillon, etc.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The word dance was used ironically, by the older
writers, of many proceedings besides dancing.
[1913 Webster]
Of remedies of love she knew parchance
For of that art she couth the olde dance.
--Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
Dance of Death (Art), an allegorical representation of the
power of death over all, -- the old, the young, the high,
and the low, being led by a dancing skeleton.
Morris dance. See Morris.
To lead one a dance, to cause one to go through a series of
movements or experiences as if guided by a partner in a
dance not understood.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
dance of death
n 1: a medieval dance in which a skeleton representing death
leads a procession of others to the grave [syn: danse
macabre, dance of death]