polka
Americannoun
-
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
-
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
-
am polkaingprogressive
-
are polkaingprogressive
-
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:
Watt: Do you remember seeing a Flying V guitar with polka dots?
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
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
She is best known for her monochromatic abstract paintings evoking fishing nets, and for canvases and large spaces covered with polka dots, evoking hallucinations she had as a child.
From The Wall Street Journal ● 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
Grayson had brought over a record player a week before, along with his entire music collection: thirty-one polka records.
From "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli
For one thing, there’s the music: thumping polkas with a wheezing accordion.
From New York Times ● Nov. 15, 2022
A self-described Yankovic fan who listens to his polkas while working out, Radcliffe and Yankovic found themselves in many ways simpatico.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 9, 2022
The sets hold a dismaying amount of dreck, yet Day applied the same conviction and believability to everything from the cheesiest polkas to Harold Arlen.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2019
At retirement homes, they play songs, such as “Mother’s Waltz” and “Little Burnt Potato,” polkas and themed songs depending on the time of year, Polly Wild said.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 27, 2017
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
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
“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
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
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
I saw them as I was polkaing past upon my trusty steed just now.
From Lonesome Town by Ethel Dorrance
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
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
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