jazz

American  

[jaz] / dʒæz /

noun

1. music originating in New Orleans around the beginning of the 20th century and subsequently developing through various increasingly complex styles, generally marked by intricate, propulsive rhythms, polyphonic ensemble playing, improvisatory, virtuosic solos, melodic freedom, and a harmonic idiom ranging from simple diatonicism through chromaticism to atonality.

2. a style of dance music, popular especially in the 1920s, arranged for a large band and marked by some of the features of jazz.

3. dancing or a dance performed to such music, as with violent bodily motions and gestures.

4. Slang.  liveliness; spirit; excitement.

5. Slang.  insincere, exaggerated, or pretentious talk.

   Don't give me any of that jazz about your great job!

6. Slang.  similar or related but unspecified things, activities, etc..

   He goes for fishing and all that jazz.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of jazz.

verb (used with object)

1. to play (music) in the manner of jazz.

2. Informal.

   1. to excite or enliven.

   2. to accelerate.

3. Slang: Vulgar.  to copulate with.

verb (used without object)

1. to dance to jazz music.

2. to play or perform jazz music.

3. Informal.  to act or proceed with great energy or liveliness.

4. Slang: Vulgar.  to copulate.

verb phrase

1. jazz up

   1. to add liveliness, vigor, or excitement to.

   2. to add ornamentation, color, or extra features to, in order to increase appeal or interest; embellish.

   3. to accelerate.

jazz British  

/ dʒæz /

noun

1. 1. a kind of music of African-American origin, characterized by syncopated rhythms, solo and group improvisation, and a variety of harmonic idioms and instrumental techniques. It exists in a number of styles Compare blues See also bebop bop 1 Dixieland free hard bop harmolodics mainstream modern jazz New Orleans jazz swing trad

   2. ( as modifier )

      a jazz band

   3. ( in combination )

      a jazzman

2. informal  enthusiasm or liveliness

3. slang  rigmarole; paraphernalia

   legal papers and all that jazz

4. slang  sexual intercourse

5. slang  a dance

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verb

1. (intr) to play or dance to jazz music

2. slang  to have sexual intercourse with (a person)

jazz Cultural  

1. A form of American music that grew out of African-Americans' musical traditions at the beginning of the twentieth century. Jazz is generally considered a major contribution of the United States to the world of music. It quickly became a form of dance music, incorporating a “big beat” and solos by individual musicians. For many years, all jazz was improvised and taught orally, and even today jazz solos are often improvised. Over the years, the small groups of the original jazz players evolved into the “Big Bands” (led, for example, by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Glenn Miller), and finally into concert ensembles. Other famous jazz musicians include Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, and Ella Fitzgerald.

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Other Word Forms

• jazzer noun

Etymology

Origin of jazz

1905–10, 1915–20 jazz for def. 5; origin uncertain

Example Sentences

Other parts of the score feature jazz percussion and trumpets befitting 1950s England, where the story takes place.

From Los Angeles Times

Listeners spent summer nights with jazz greats and blues artists.

From The Wall Street Journal

Even more consequential was the trust that the Barbers placed in Marshall Stearns, who had an academic pedigree in medieval literature and a subsuming interest in the ethnomusicology of jazz.

From The Wall Street Journal

Throughout his 20s he worked in jazz clubs, eventually opening a Tokyo bar and coffee shop despite lacking “the slightest aptitude for running a business.”

From The Wall Street Journal

City Hall, which dates to the 16th century, toots out a cheerful jazz bugle call several times a day.

From The Wall Street Journal