juba

¹ American  

[joo-buh] / ˈdʒu bə /

noun

1. a lively dance characterized by rhythmic hand clapping, body and thigh slapping, and stomping, developed by African Americans enslaved on Southern plantations in the 19th century.

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Juba ² American  

[joo-bah] / ˈdʒu bɑ /

noun

1. a female day name for Monday. day name

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Juba ³ American  

[joo-bah] / ˈdʒu bɑ /

noun

1. Italian Giuba.  a river in E Africa, flowing S from S Ethiopia through Somalia to the Indian Ocean. 1,000 miles (1,609 km) long.

2. the capital of South Sudan, on the White Nile.

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Juba ¹ British  

/ ˈdʒuːbə /

noun

1. a river in NE Africa, rising in S central Ethiopia and flowing south across Somalia to the Indian Ocean: the chief river of Somalia. Length: about 1660 km (1030 miles)

2. the capital of South Sudan, on the White Nile river. Pop: 250 000 (2006 est)

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juba ² British  

/ ˈdʒuːbə /

noun

1. a lively African-American dance developed in the southern US

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Etymology

Origin of juba

An Americanism dating back to 1825–35; of obscure origin

Example Sentences

The third movement, based on the juba, the African American dance replete with stomping and slapping the arms, was a juba, fast and a little erratic, not symphonically suave.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 21, 2022

The juba dance movement of Price’s Third features asymmetrical phrasing, rhythmic complexity and interaction between sections.

From New York Times • Oct. 27, 2022

We see why when he leaves the organ and heads out into the studio audience with his sister Rose: After her solo, he performs a dance routine drawn from Africa, patting juba.

From New York Times • Feb. 10, 2022

A spiritual, harmonically inventive composition, it climaxes with an allegretto apparently modelled after the African-American "juba" dance once practised on US plantations.

From BBC • Sep. 10, 2021

Men lamented in joy and wailed in exultation, while others slapped juba upon their arms and thighs.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson