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• Charleston
  Charleston

  noun

  a vigorous, rhythmic ballroom dance popular in the 1920s.
• charleston
  charleston

  noun

  a fast rhythmic dance of the 1920s, characterized by kicking and by twisting of the legs from the knee down

Charleston

¹ American  

[chahrlz-tuhn, chahrl-stuhn] / ˈtʃɑrlz tən, ˈtʃɑrl stən /

noun

1. a vigorous, rhythmic ballroom dance popular in the 1920s.

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verb (used without object)

1. to dance the Charleston.

Charleston ² American  

[chahrlz-tuhn, chahrl-stuhn] / ˈtʃɑrlz tən, ˈtʃɑrl stən /

noun

1. a seaport in SE South Carolina.

2. a city in and the capital of West Virginia, in the W part.

3. a city in E central Illinois.

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Charleston ¹ British  

/ ˈtʃɑːlstən /

noun

1. a city in central West Virginia: the state capital. Pop: 51 394 (2003 est)

2. a port in SE South Carolina, on the Atlantic: scene of the first action in the Civil War. Pop: 101 024 (2003 est)

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charleston ² British  

/ ˈtʃɑːlstən /

noun

1. a fast rhythmic dance of the 1920s, characterized by kicking and by twisting of the legs from the knee down

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Charleston ¹ Cultural  

1. Two cities in the South: one a port city in southeastern South Carolina, the other the capital of West Virginia.

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Charleston ² Cultural  

1. A fast-paced dance, with elaborate arm movements, that became a craze in the United States during the 1920s.

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Etymology

Origin of Charleston

Named after Charleston, South Carolina

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Charleston charleston

Max Sorgenfrey was sipping a coffee at a cafe in Charleston, South Carolina, in early October when her phone began lighting up with messages.

From Salon ● Oct. 29, 2026

On Saturday night's episode, Walters and Skorjanec had performed a Charleston to Ooh Ahh… Just A Little Bit by Gina G, receiving a score of 17 from the judges.

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026

Hunched over a desk in the Mountain State Spotlight newsroom in Charleston, West Virginia, pen in hand, we scrawled out official notice of our new school in a spiral-bound notebook.

From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026

Kendall’s reply to the Charleston postmaster was careful but unmistakable.

From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2026

Why would Andrea want to learn the Charleston?

From "Homesick" by Jean Fritz

Opera singer Wynne Evans has become the eighth star to leave this year's Strictly Come Dancing after his charleston left judges cold.

From BBC ● Nov. 17, 2024

In 2013, she dazzled on Strictly Come Dancing, wowing the judges with, among other performances, a memorably bouncy whirl through the charleston.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 21, 2020

For their choice, Jay and Aliona chose to do the paso doble to It's My Life by Bon Jovi, while Georgia and Giovanni returned to the charleston, dancing to Hot Honey Rag from Chicago.

From BBC ● Dec. 19, 2015

Music comes from the Ceilidh Liberation Front and you can even learn to jive or charleston, if you so wish.

From The Guardian ● Jun. 15, 2013

RUNNER-UP charleston, south carolina Anglers will find prime action with whites around this southern hot spot.

From Time Magazine Archive

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