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• country-dance
  country-dance

  noun

  a dance of rural English origin in which the dancers form circles or squares or in which they face each other in two rows.
• country dance
  country dance

  noun

  a type of folk dance in which couples are arranged in sets and perform a series of movements, esp facing one another in a line

country-dance

American  

[kuhn-tree-dans, -dahns] / ˈkʌn triˌdæns, -ˌdɑns /

noun

1. a dance of rural English origin in which the dancers form circles or squares or in which they face each other in two rows.

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country dance British  

noun

1. a type of folk dance in which couples are arranged in sets and perform a series of movements, esp facing one another in a line

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Other Word Forms

• country dancing
  noun

Etymology

Origin of country-dance

First recorded in 1570–80

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

country-dance country dance

Courses are as varied as English country-dance, the presidency and genealogy on the computer.

From Time Magazine Archive

Gavotte, ga-vot′, n. a lively kind of dance, somewhat like a country-dance, originally a dance of the Gavotes, the people of Gap, in the Upper Alps: the music for such a dance.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various

In the country, you know, any stranger is company, and we're glad to take up with the butler in a country-dance, and happy if he 'll do us the favour.

From The Beaux-Stratagem by Farquhar, George

Contra-dance is better than country-dance, the latter word being a corruption; but it has become admissible from long use.

From Every-Day Errors of Speech by Meredith, L. P.

This arrangement seemed to promise a country-dance, but when the music began, Dick found that a form of minuet was intended.

From The Road to Paris by Stephens, Robert Neilson

The 16-year-old has enjoyed the country dance style since she was seven, following in the footsteps of her mum, grandmother and great-grandmother.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2025

The shows so far have spanned the modern desert’s full range of scenes — country dance nights, the scuzzy punk of Throw Rag, cabaret drag acts and gothic folk from Blood Nebraska.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2025

FRI Zydeco dance lesson, 7:15 p.m., blues, swing, zydeco, Cajun, country dance for all ages with DJ, 8-11 p.m.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 18, 2018

They were there to dance the forró, a rustic country dance from northeastern Brazil that has fired the romantic imaginations of Parisians young and old, at a weekly gathering devoted to the dance.

From New York Times ● Feb. 12, 2010

At this country dance Johnny for the first time saw Rab move suddenly into action.

From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes