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paso doble

American  
[pah-soh doh-bley, pah-saw daw-ble] / ˈpɑ soʊ ˈdoʊ bleɪ, ˈpɑ sɔ ˈdɔ βlɛ /

noun

paso dobles, plural pasos dobles plural
  1. a quick, light march often played at bullfights.

  2. a two-step, especially one done to Latin American rhythms.


paso doble British  
/ ˈpæsəʊ ˈdəʊbleɪ, ˈpaso ˈdoβle /

noun

  1. a modern ballroom dance in fast duple time

  2. a piece of music composed for or in the rhythm of this dance

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of paso doble

First recorded in 1925–30; < Spanish: literally, double step

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Back in the actual 1990s, ice dancers cycled through traditional dances: samba, blues, polka, rumba, quickstep, tango, jive, paso doble, Viennese waltz.

From The Wall Street Journal Feb. 9, 2026

In his Halloween paso doble showcase, he wore a clerical collar and forewent grease paint or creepy contacts, relying on wide-eyed expressions and a low-slung layer of fake fog to hide his relatively clumsy footwork.

From Salon Nov. 4, 2025

Sure, that’s cool, but could Chavez ever perfect the paso doble, samba or Viennese waltz?

From Los Angeles Times Dec. 6, 2023

The music and lyrics — by Benjamin Velez and David Kamp — fuse salsa, gospel, hip-hop, funk and merengue, as well as some flamenco and paso doble for the Spaniards.

From Seattle Times Jun. 1, 2022

Ghadami, EastEnders' Kush, grabs a moment to eat a jacket potato with tuna after running through his 007-themed paso doble to Wings' Live and Let Die.

From BBC Nov. 17, 2017

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