polka
Americannoun
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polkas
plural
-
a lively couple dance of Bohemian origin, with music in duple meter.
-
a piece of music for such a dance or in its rhythm.
verb (used without object)
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polkas,
present (3rd person singular)
-
polkaed,
past participle, past
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polkaing
present participle
noun
-
a 19th-century Bohemian dance with three steps and a hop, in fast duple time
-
a piece of music composed for or in the rhythm of this dance
verb
Discover More
Johann Strauss, the Younger wrote many polkas.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
polkasimple
-
polkassimple
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have polkaedperfect
-
has polkaedperfect
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am polkaingprogressive
-
are polkaingprogressive
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is polkaingprogressive
-
have been polkaingperfect progressive
-
has been polkaingperfect progressive
Past
-
polkaedsimple
-
had polkaedperfect
-
was polkaingprogressive
-
were polkaingprogressive
-
had been polkaingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of polka
1835–45; < Czech: literally, Polish woman or girl; compare Polish polka Polish woman, polak Pole
Explanation
Polka is both a dance and a type of live music that's played specifically for dancing the polka. Many people associate polka music with the accordion. The origins of the polka go back to a Czech folk dance, and the word itself comes from the Czech pulka, or "half," a reference to the common "half-steps" in Bohemian dances. Polka spread to the wider Czech culture by the 1830s, and soon after to Paris, England, and the United States, where it was adopted as the "national dance" of U.S. Polish immigrants during the 20th century. It's also a verb: "Hear that music? Let's polka!"
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:
In her hometown of Naoshima, visitors coming by ferry are greeted by her outdoor Red Pumpkin sculpture covered in bold, black polka dots.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
The "polka dot queen" channelled hallucinations and battles with mental health into vibrant art featuring her trademark dots, nets and infinity motifs over a career spanning decades and continents.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
Without fail, the miniature version of me would blubber at Sully the polka dot monster reuniting with Boo, and Marlin the clownfish traversing the ocean to find his son.
From Salon ● Jun. 6, 2026
Carter incorporates Guy’s real-life signature polka dots to highlight “this is a real story of the blues, and this is a real bluesman.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2026
His only recollection was a feeling of sheer, joyful exuberance, himself in celebration: shouting “A-men!” in the Bethany Church, bashing John McNab’s fastballs out of sight, dancing the polka with Grayson.
From "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli
Germans who settled in Texas and northern Mexico in the 1850s brought infectiously danceable polkas played on button accordions — and helped birth regional Tex-Mex styles.
From Seattle Times ● May 20, 2022
Alfred sat in his room, wheezing away on his accordion, diddling its buttons, dutifully memorizing polkas and waltzes and marches and the “Mexican Hat Dance.”
From New York Times ● Apr. 9, 2020
How a symphonic orchestra would work with norteño, which is built around bouncing polkas and fast-paced accordion riffs, was a lingering question as cellists filed onto the stage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2018
Rick Keane’s eyes will be on his sheet music, although the master trumpet player probably doesn’t need it - he can likely play most of these polkas by heart.
From Washington Times ● Jan. 22, 2018
I sift through old 78 polkas with beribboned women smiling at me from the album covers.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
The older ones square-danced in the middle of the hall and we younger ones waltzed and polkaed in a long line down the outside ring.
From Land of the Burnt Thigh by Stephen J. Voorhies
“Ain’t the Arsenal where Pudge O’Shay threatened to take me to tea the afternoon Dot polkaed up those sacred rocks to the block-house?”
From Lonesome Town by Ethel Dorrance
Page 19 polked to their hearts' content changed to polkaed to their hearts' content Page 3912 Quotation mark removed from the end of the line down and kisses her!
From Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Ten Christmas stories by Edward E. Hale
And after they had eaten the supper, Bengel's fiddle sounded in the parlor, and they danced, and they waltzed, and they polkaed to their hearts' content.
From Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Ten Christmas stories by Edward E. Hale
The waltzing, polkaing, etc., appeared to me a most ridiculous and indecent exhibition; and it was a long time before this feeling wore off.
From The Thistle and the Cedar of Lebanon by Habeeb Risk Allah
I saw them as I was polkaing past upon my trusty steed just now.
From Lonesome Town by Ethel Dorrance
She may not always be waltzing or polkaing, but if she is conventionally sound she is sure to be in a whirl.
From The Opinions of a Philosopher by Robert Grant
The vigor of polkaing and church-going are proportioned; as is the one so is the other.
From The Wit and Humor of America, Volume II. (of X.) by Marshall Pinckney Wilder
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
