pas de deux

[ French pahduh dœ ]

noun

, Ballet.

, plural pas de deux.

1. a dance by two persons.
2. (in classical ballet) a set dance for a ballerina and a danseur noble, consisting typically of an entrée, an adagio, a variation for each dancer, and a coda.

pas de deux

/ pɑddø /

noun

1. ballet a sequence for two dancers

Word History and Origins

Origin of pas de deux¹

1755–65; < French: literally, step for two

Word History and Origins

Origin of pas de deux¹

French: step for two

Example Sentences

Petrushevskaya is best at the pas de deux, where women and men stick together and peel apart due to some mysterious force.

From The Daily Beast

It was more like a Balanchine-Stravinsky pas de deux, full of tension, crashing cymbals and shifting rhythms.

From The Daily Beast

Together, it is Williams and Gosling who are gracing movie screens this winter with the truest of pas de deux.

From The Daily Beast

You can't fully understand how hemoglobin molecules interact until you've seen them depicted through a classical pas de deux.

From The Daily Beast

The son and daughter are gracefully executing a pas de deux.

From Project Gutenberg

After she had finished the pas-de-deux, she made all the other figures a sign to begin a general dance.

From Project Gutenberg

Mozart only planned two longer portions without completing them, and in performance the whole Pas de deux was omitted.

From Project Gutenberg

Regular ballets of action now take place, in lieu of the pas de deux, and pas seul, of one or two principal dancers.

From Project Gutenberg

The exchange was as formal as a pas de deux and just about as warlike.

From Project Gutenberg