samba

[ sam-buh, sahm- ]

noun

, plural sam·bas.

1. a rhythmic, Brazilian ballroom dance of African origin.

verb (used without object)

, sam·baed, sam·ba·ing.

1. to dance the samba.

samba

/ ˈsæmbə /

noun

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

verb

1. intr to perform such a dance

Word History and Origins

Origin of samba¹

First recorded in 1885; from Portuguese, of African origin, possibly Kongo semba, the name of a dance

Word History and Origins

Origin of samba¹

Portuguese, of African origin

Example Sentences

Cleveland brought a blitz, leaving him one-on-one with safety Richard LeCounte, and Adams did a samba on top of the hashmarks while Aaron Rodgers backpedaled and lofted a ball to the middle of the end zone.

From FiveThirtyEight

There was enough indication of that in Q2 beyond the Samba TV stat.

From Digiday

It has summery samba drums and wicked rhythm and that awesome sting voice which sounds like a sample but is just brilliantly repeating vocals.

From Digiday

That the Interim President Catherine Samba-Panza is a woman is another exception to the rule.

From The Daily Beast

“We want her to appear with the Samba band and come on and say ‘Shut the ---- up’,” one of the organisers explained.

From The Daily Beast

Behind the samba beat, the country remains deeply polarized at home, in politics, and in the pews.

From The Daily Beast

It was none other than comic Margaret Cho, dancing a samba to the story of “pride.”

From The Daily Beast

The Woz busted a move—and who knows what else—doing “the worm” in the middle of a samba routine in Season Nine.

From The Daily Beast

In the great country far away south, through which flows the river Nile, there lived a king who had an only child called Samba.

From Project Gutenberg

Loud were the cries for instant vengeance, and for Samba, son-in-law of the king, to lead them to battle.

From Project Gutenberg

And to this Samba, who was always ready to do anything he was asked when there was no danger about it, agreed readily.

From Project Gutenberg

One of them was my first commander and my confidant, which surprised me greatly; his name was Samba.

From Project Gutenberg

We found a fire of blazing wood in Samba's hut, and sat down on mats to gossip and smoke till dinner should be served.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• disco
• tango
• waltz