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• country-dance
  country-dance

  noun

  a dance of rural English origin in which the dancers form circles or squares or in which they face each other in two rows.
• country dance
  country dance

  noun

  a type of folk dance in which couples are arranged in sets and perform a series of movements, esp facing one another in a line

country-dance

American  

[kuhn-tree-dans, -dahns] / ˈkʌn triˌdæns, -ˌdɑns /

noun

1. a dance of rural English origin in which the dancers form circles or squares or in which they face each other in two rows.

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country dance British  

noun

1. a type of folk dance in which couples are arranged in sets and perform a series of movements, esp facing one another in a line

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Other Word Forms

• country dancing
  noun

Etymology

Origin of country-dance

First recorded in 1570–80

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

country-dance country dance

Courses are as varied as English country-dance, the presidency and genealogy on the computer.

From Time Magazine Archive

You are thrown on your back immediately, the conversation is stopped like a country-dance by those who do not know the figure.

From Hazlitt on English Literature An Introduction to the Appreciation of Literature by Jacob Zeitlin

She replied that Henry Harford had engaged her, at the last ball, for this country-dance.

From Stories for Helen by Eliza Leslie

While he with praiseworthy perseverance was still scraping away, requesting the hand of the lady for a cotillion, a minuette, or a country-dance, a gentleman came up and spoke to her.

From Ronald Morton, or the Fire Ships A Story of the Last Naval War by T. Hoggans

It was a regular jig-a-jig—a country-dance of pousette, down the middle, and right and left.

From Olla Podrida by Frederick Marryat

The 16-year-old has enjoyed the country dance style since she was seven, following in the footsteps of her mum, grandmother and great-grandmother.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2025

Carolyn Harris and Jay Marsh met at a country dance in Virginia while he was finishing his Army stint.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 26, 2021

FRI Zydeco dance lesson, 7:15 p.m., blues, swing, zydeco, Cajun, country dance for all ages with DJ, 8-11 p.m.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 18, 2018

They were there to dance the forró, a rustic country dance from northeastern Brazil that has fired the romantic imaginations of Parisians young and old, at a weekly gathering devoted to the dance.

From New York Times ● Feb. 12, 2010

At this country dance Johnny for the first time saw Rab move suddenly into action.

From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes