corroboree
Americannoun
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an assembly of Aboriginal people typified by singing and dancing, sometimes associated with traditional sacred rites.
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a social gathering, especially of a boisterous nature.
noun
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a native assembly of sacred, festive, or warlike character
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informal any noisy gathering
Etymology
Origin of corroboree
First recorded in 1793, corroboree is from the Dharuk word ga-ra-ba-ra “dance”
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.
In Australia, the tiny black-and-yellow Southern corroboree frog was nearly pushed to extinction by the fungus.
From National Geographic
It shows in her laughter, a corroboree of chuckles, whinnies and convulsions.
From Time Magazine Archive
They now advanced slowly and cautiously, guided by Jacoby, and at length lay down almost within pistol-shot of the place where the horrid corroboree was going on.
From From Squire to Squatter A Tale of the Old Land and the New by Stables, Gordon
The word corroboree is applied equally to the dance, the whole festival, or the actual chant which accompanies the dancing.
From Spinifex and Sand by Carnegie, David Wynford
A moonlit night is nearly always made the occasion for a corroboree, to which no significance is attached, and which may be simply held for the amusement the actual performance affords.
From Spinifex and Sand by Carnegie, David Wynford
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.
