polka

[ pohl-kuh, poh-kuh ]

noun,plural pol·kas.
  1. a lively couple dance of Bohemian origin, with music in duple meter.

  2. a piece of music for such a dance or in its rhythm.

verb (used without object),pol·kaed, pol·ka·ing.
  1. to dance the polka.

Origin of polka

1
1835–45; <Czech: literally, Polish woman or girl; compare Polish polka Polish woman, polak Pole

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use polka in a sentence

  • There were waltzes, polkas and contraddanze, also games involving dances.

    Castellinaria | Henry Festing Jones
  • But our girls' heads are busy with polkas rather than walks, and then the weather makes a good excuse for them.

  • Here are hats, polkas, and full short skirts, but pale faces and small limbs.

    Hopes and Fears | Charlotte M. Yonge
  • It consists in waltzes and sometimes polkas, danced by eight, ten, or twelve couples at a time.

    The Complete Bachelor | Walter Germain
  • Whilst the appearance of the Coomaranagee Polkas showed an unusual amount of correct information on the part of the publisher.

    A Journey to Katmandu | Laurence Oliphant

British Dictionary definitions for polka

polka

/ (ˈpɒlkə) /


nounplural -kas
  1. a 19th-century Bohemian dance with three steps and a hop, in fast duple time

  2. a piece of music composed for or in the rhythm of this dance

verb-kas, -kaing or -kaed
  1. (intr) to dance a polka

Origin of polka

1
C19: via French from Czech pulka half-step, from pul half

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for polka

polka

A lively dance for couples, originating in eastern Europe.

Notes for polka

Johann Strauss, the Younger wrote many polkas.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.