samba

[sam-buh, sahm-]

See more synonyms for samba on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural sam·bas.

a rhythmic, Brazilian ballroom dance of African origin.

verb (used without object), sam·baed, sam·ba·ing.

to dance the samba.

Origin of samba

First recorded in 1880–85, samba is from the Portuguese word samba, alleged to be of African orig.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for samba

disco, waltz, rock, samba, tango, tap, skip, jump, shimmy, trip, caper, jig, leap, hop, frolic, sway, cavort, hustle, whirl, strut

Examples from the Web for samba

Contemporary Examples of samba

“We want her to appear with the Samba band and come on and say ‘Shut the ---- up’,” one of the organisers explained.
Dame Helen Mirren: One Loves Drummers, Just Not Outside A Theatre
Tom Sykes
May 7, 2013
Behind the samba beat, the country remains deeply polarized at home, in politics, and in the pews.
Brazil’s Surge in Violence Against Gays Is Just Getting Worse
Kristian Jebsen
April 8, 2012
It was none other than comic Margaret Cho, dancing a samba to the story of “pride.”
Best Moments From Dancing With the Stars
Sujay Kumar, The Daily Beast Video
October 5, 2010
The Woz busted a move—and who knows what else—doing “the worm” in the middle of a samba routine in Season Nine.
11 Most Awkward Dancing Stars
The Daily Beast Video
August 17, 2009
BREAKOUT MOMENT: Shaking her hips—Elvis be damned—during a too-hot-for-prime time samba with partner Helio Castroneves in 2007.
Breakout Blondes
Alison Prato
May 26, 2009

Historical Examples of samba

The years passed away, and Samba had become a tall and strong youth.
The Olive Fairy Book
Various
Samba lang tung pagkaigúa, It was pure luck that you hit it.
A Dictionary of Cebuano Visayan
John U. Wolff
Samba seemed to find his way by instinct over the uneven ground.
Samba
Herbert Strang
Samba had but to stretch out his hand to make prisoners of what he chose.
Samba
Herbert Strang
Samba did not suspect at first that these men were connected with those he sought.
Samba
Herbert Strang

British Dictionary definitions for samba

samba

noun plural -bas

a lively modern ballroom dance from Brazil in bouncy duple time
a piece of music composed for or in the rhythm of this dance

verb -bas, -baing or -baed

(intr) to perform such a dance

Word Origin for samba

Portuguese, of African origin

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

Word Origin and History for samba

Brazilian dance of African origin, 1885, Zemba, from Portuguese samba, shortened form of zambacueca, a type of dance, probably altered (by influence of zamacueco "stupid") from zambapalo, the name of a grotesque dance, itself an alteration of zampapalo "stupid man," from zamparse "to bump, crash." As a verb from 1949.