chassé

[sha-sey or, esp. in square dancing, sa-shey]Dance.

noun

a gliding step in which one foot is kept in advance of the other.

verb (used without object), chas·séd, chas·sé·ing.

to execute a chassé.

Nearby words

Origin of chassé

1795–1805; < French: literally, chased, followed, past participle of chasser to chase¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for chasse

Our gallant friend, apparently chagrined that we should have been disappointed in our fishing, proposed a chasse.
Germany, Bohemia, and Hungary, Visited in 1837. Vol. II|G. R. Gleig
Whilst the French were pitching their fulgara into Chasse's citadel, the bells went on ringing quite cheerfully.
Roundabout Papers|William Makepeace Thackeray
Then half a bottle of red wine, a demi-syphon, and a caf and chasse.
Punch or the London Charivari, Vol. 109, September 7, 1895|Various
She had relinquished years before the chasse for personal excitement; she had replaced it by 'the chasse of the five-franc piece.'
The History of David Grieve|Mrs. Humphry Ward

Oh, yes, sare, I have been at the chasse of de small dicky-bird—tom-tit—cock-robin—vot you call.
Ask Momma|R. S. Surtees

British Dictionary definitions for chasse

chassé

noun

one of a series of gliding steps in ballet in which the same foot always leads

three consecutive dance steps, two fast and one slow, to four beats of music

verb -sés, -séing or -séd

(intr) to perform either of these steps

Word Origin for chassé

C19: from French: a chasing

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

Word Origin and History for chasse

chasse

from French chassé "chase, chasing," past participle of chasser "to chase, hunt" (see chase (v.)); borrowed 19c. in a variety of senses and expressions, such as "chaser" (in the drinking sense), short for chasse-café, literally "coffee-chaser." Also as a dance step (1867).