conga
[kong-guh]
- 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.
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- to dance a conga.
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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. 2018
Related Words
disco, waltz, rock, samba, tango, tap, skip, jump, shimmy, trip, caper, jig, leap, hop, frolic, sway, cavort, hustle, whirl, strutExamples from the Web for conga
Contemporary Examples
But the minute you file, the conga line dancing up the street to your competitors really gets going.
By now, everyone has seen the startling photos and video of the conga line of climbers ascending Everest earlier this month.
As the last of a conga line of doctors administering to Jackson, he is the most logical loser of smoking gun musical chairs.
Historical Examples
That man has been following me like a conga partner all afternoon.
Death Makes A MistakeP.F. Costello
conga
- 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
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- (intr) to dance the conga
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Word Origin
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
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Word Origin and History for conga
n.
1935, American Spanish, fem. of (danza) Congo "Congo (dance);" so called because it was assumed to be of African origin.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper