dance of death
noun
a symbolic dance in which Death, represented as a skeleton, leads people or skeletons to their grave.
a representation of this theme in art.
Origin of dance of death
1First recorded in 1470–80
- Also called danse macabre.
Words Nearby dance of death
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
British Dictionary definitions for dance of death
dance of death
noun
a pictorial, literary, or musical representation, current esp in the Middle Ages, of a dance in which living people, in order of social precedence, are led off to their graves, by a personification of death: Also called (French): danse macabre
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
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