conga

[kong-guh]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR conga ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural con·gas.

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.

the music for this dance.

Also called conga drum. a tall, conical, Afro-Cuban drum played with the hands.

verb (used without object), con·gaed, con·ga·ing.

to dance a conga.

Origin of conga

Borrowed into English from Cuban Spanish around 1930–35

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

Related Words for conga

disco, waltz, rock, samba, tango, tap, skip, jump, shimmy, trip, caper, jig, leap, hop, frolic, sway, cavort, hustle, whirl, strut

Examples from the Web for conga

Contemporary Examples of conga

But the minute you file, the conga line dancing up the street to your competitors really gets going.
Big Losses, Bigger Paychecks
Megan McArdle
November 19, 2012
By now, everyone has seen the startling photos and video of the conga line of climbers ascending Everest earlier this month.
Mount Everest Suffers From Too Many Climbers and Deteriorating Conditions
Nick Heil
May 23, 2012
As the last of a conga line of doctors administering to Jackson, he is the most logical loser of smoking gun musical chairs.
Jacko's Lethal Injection?
Marcia Clark
July 26, 2009

Historical Examples of conga

That man has been following me like a conga partner all afternoon.
Death Makes A Mistake
P.F. Costello

British Dictionary definitions for conga

conga

noun

a Latin American dance of three steps and a kick to each bar, usually performed by a number of people in single file

Also called: conga drum a large tubular bass drum, used chiefly in Latin American and funk music and played with the hands

verb -gas, -gaing or -gaed

(intr) to dance the conga

Word Origin for conga

C20: from American Spanish, feminine of congo belonging to the Congo

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 conga

1935, American Spanish, fem. of (danza) Congo "Congo (dance);" so called because it was assumed to be of African origin.