hula

[ hoo-luh ]

/ ˈhu lə /

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noun

a sinuous Hawaiian dance with intricate arm movements that tell a story in pantomime, usually danced to rhythmic drumming and accompanied by chanting.

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Also called hula-hula .

Origin of hula

Borrowed into English from Hawaiian around 1815–25

Words nearby hula

Hui Tsung, Huitzilopochtli, Huizhou, Huizinga, Huk, hula, Hula-Hoop, hula-hula, hula skirt, huldre, hulk

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use hula in a sentence

Neptune’s entire orbit around the sun wobbles like a struggling hula hoop.
A missing moon could have given Saturn its rings — and tilt|Lisa Grossman|October 12, 2022|Science News For Students
Neptune’s entire orbit around the sun also wobbles, like a struggling hula hoop.
Saturn’s rings and tilt might have come from one missing moon|Lisa Grossman|September 15, 2022|Science News
A hula hoop–like antenna on a pole holds stubby microphones feeding 48 independent channels of sound to location-calculating software.
An ‘acoustic camera’ shows joining the right boy band boosts a frog’s sex appeal|Susan Milius|May 31, 2022|Science News
In a few minutes, electronic music will start pulsing, stuffed animals will be flung through the air, women will emerge spinning Technicolor hula hoops, and a mechanical bull will rev into action, bucking off one delighted rider after another.
The Man Behind Ethereum Is Worried About Crypto's Future|Andrew R. Chow/Denver|March 18, 2022|Time

They then stuck these chunks into hula hoops of DNA—called plasmids—and floated them into bacteria cells.
A New Gene Editing Tool Could Rival CRISPR, and Makes Millions of Edits at Once|Shelly Fan|May 11, 2021|Singularity Hub
Stacked cylinders form a base beneath her feet and loosely roll about as she juggles objects and weaves in and out of hula-hoops.
How the Circus Got a Social Conscience|Justin Jones|November 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Her kind-of-hula-dancing/kind-of-casting-a-spell hand choreography?
Best 2013 Oscar Moments: Red Carpet, Anne Hathaway & More (VIDEO)|Kevin Fallon|February 25, 2013|DAILY BEAST
[ELLE UK] Chanel Hula Hoop Makes Street Appearance: The Chanel Hula Hoop has finally made its street-style debut.
Vittorio Missoni’s Bag Found in Caribbean; Charlie Sheen Paid for Lindsay Lohan’s Wardrobe Disaster|The Fashion Beast Team|February 13, 2013|DAILY BEAST
And the Chanel Hula Hoop bag appears at New York Fashion Week.
Vittorio Missoni’s Bag Found in Caribbean; Charlie Sheen Paid for Lindsay Lohan’s Wardrobe Disaster|The Fashion Beast Team|February 13, 2013|DAILY BEAST
That results in Ed Henry hula dancing on-air and other fluff segments.
Lindsey Graham on Bracing for 2012 and More Sunday Talk|The Daily Beast Video|January 2, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Youngsters are taught everything from the hula, hat-weaving and coconut crafts to the Hawaiian alphabet song.
Oahu Traveler's guide|Bill Gleasner
The hula pa-hua was a dance of the classical times that has long been obsolete.
Unwritten Literature of Hawaii|Nathaniel Bright Emerson
Both olapa and hoopaa took part in the performance of this hula.
Unwritten Literature of Hawaii|Nathaniel Bright Emerson
Of the 262 hula performances listed for exhibition, some 30 were of the hula ku'i.
Unwritten Literature of Hawaii|Nathaniel Bright Emerson
Ami (-mi)--to bend; a bodily motion used in the hula (note, p. 202).
Unwritten Literature of Hawaii|Nathaniel Bright Emerson

British Dictionary definitions for hula

hula

hula-hula

/ (ˈhuːlə) /

noun

a Hawaiian dance performed by a woman

Word Origin for hula

from Hawaiian

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