sword dance

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noun

any of various dances, usually performed by men, in which swords are ceremonially flourished or are laid on the ground and danced around.

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Origin of sword dance

First recorded in 1595–1605

OTHER WORDS FROM sword dance

sword dancer, noun

Words nearby sword dance

sword-bearer, sword belt, swordbill, sword cane, swordcraft, sword dance, sword fern, swordfish, sword grass, sword knot, sword lily

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use sword dance in a sentence

She lifted two of the swords from the wall, crossed them on the floor and danced the sword dance of Scotland.
When Winter Comes to Main Street|Grant Martin Overton
It is said that when Cruikshank was eighty-three, he executed a sword-dance before an old officer who had mentally buried him.
George Cruikshank|W. H. Chesson
They work in pairs, each pair doing a sort of sword-dance, and making Saint Andrew's Crosses along the line.
The Story of Our Submarines|John Graham Bower
Round and round that holocaust the thousands did their sword-dance, yelling as the devils yelled at Khinjan's birth.
King--of the Khyber Rifles|Talbot Mundy

I have copied the "Grand Sword Dance" in its proper place for the benefit of those who can interpret it.
The Peace Egg and Other tales|Juliana Horatia Ewing

British Dictionary definitions for sword dance

sword dance

noun

a dance in which the performers dance nimbly over swords on the ground or brandish them in the air

Derived forms of sword dance

sword dancer, nounsword dancing, noun

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