conga
Americannoun
plural
congas-
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)
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
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.
Another visitor, Richard Smekal, posted about the conga line of climbers who packed onto the cables leading to the Half Dome summit.
From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026
In no time, there were conga lines and limbo contests, and by the wee hours, someone always ended up at the emergency room and at least one marriage was in peril.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 17, 2025
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
Winkleman added: "This means everything. We're so grateful. We're going to do the conga."
From BBC • Sep. 11, 2024
Like my feet wanted to get up and march around the room in a conga line.
From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
