conga
Americannoun
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congas
plural
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Also called conga line. a Cuban ballroom dance that consists of three steps forward followed by a kick, characteristically performed by a group following a leader in a single line.
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the music for this dance.
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Also called conga drum. a tall, conical, Afro-Cuban drum played with the hands.
verb (used without object)
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congas,
present (3rd person singular)
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congaed,
past participle, past
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congaing
present participle
noun
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a Latin American dance of three steps and a kick to each bar, usually performed by a number of people in single file
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Also called: conga drum. a large tubular bass drum, used chiefly in Latin American and funk music and played with the hands
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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congasimple
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congassimple
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have congaedperfect
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has congaedperfect
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am congaingprogressive
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are congaingprogressive
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is congaingprogressive
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have been congaingperfect progressive
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has been congaingperfect progressive
Past
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congaedsimple
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had congaedperfect
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was congaingprogressive
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were congaingprogressive
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had been congaingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of conga
First recorded in 1930–35; from Cuban Spanish
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
I heard, in preparation for this story, that the DJ occasionally requests that visitors form a conga Iine.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026
On social media this weekend, Trump applauded a picture of a map showing a conga line of vessels sailing to the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 13, 2026
Time will tell, but for now Californians — and most of America — are stuck doing the same old clock-face conga on Sunday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 7, 2026
Sometimes, as has been documented in a BBC series narrated by David Attenborough, they swap shells in a conga line, in which each crab puts on a shell discarded by a larger companion.
From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2025
Emily’s dad put his hands on her mother’s hips and pretended to do an embarrassing conga that was mostly shrugging shoulders and the occasional kick.
From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
“Let There Be Love” finds the drummer using his hands on his tom-toms to make them sound like congas, giving the track an Erroll Garner flavor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026
At that point, the band consisted of Keith Strickland on guitar, Ricky Wilson on congas, and Pierson, Cindy Wilson and Fred Schneider on vocals.
From BBC ● Mar. 17, 2026
Drawing from the canon of vintage rap, “Tranky Funky” gallops forward to the sound of congas, chunky piano chords, wah-wah guitars and a nod to Mobb Deep.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2024
From the sidewalk outside El Fogón, you can see the twin rotisseries slowly spinning in place, the skewers stacked high and wide until they look like congas.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 15, 2023
A few secondhand mint-condition musical instruments like trumpets, trombones, congas, and tambourines were on display inside a glass case, their price tags sticking out like a tag on a dead man’s toe.
From "Bodega Dreams" by Ernesto Quinonez
Schweini should suffer no repeat tonight: these days opponents crumble in front of him, rather than congaing behind him.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 7, 2010
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
