tap dance
noun
a dance in which the rhythm or rhythmical variation is audibly tapped out with the toe or heel by a dancer wearing shoes with special hard soles or with taps.
tap dance
1 Americannoun
-
tap dances
plural
tap-dance
2
American
[tap-dans, -dahns]
/ ˈtæpˌdæns, -ˌdɑns /
verb (used without object)
tap-danced,
tap-dancing
tap dance
British
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of tap dance1
Probably earlier than 1925–30
Origin of tap-dance2
First recorded in 1925–30
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 the early decades of Hollywood musicals, ballet had been at most a secondary art, especially compared to the prevalence of tap dance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Wilson learned tap dance and ballet and appeared on Broadway at just 4 years old.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 31, 2026
Watching Lyonne’s heroine tap dance away from strafing fire gets old pretty fast, but at least Johnson and his writers realize that.
From Salon ● May 8, 2025
It's set in a sparse recreation of the community centre where eight-year-old Becky from Rotherham learned to tap dance.
From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2025
The party was slipping away in sweet sadness, Eddie went out in the office and did a little tap dance and came back and sat down again.
From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck
It’s usually a defense attorney who has to tap-dance around, not the government.
From Slate ● Nov. 24, 2025
The Hines brothers inherited a tap-dance tradition on the wane and, decades later, had a lot to do with bringing it back into the public consciousness.
From New York Times ● Jan. 3, 2024
It takes two to tango, but thus far it’s been a Canucks tap-dance all over the Kraken, who’ve yet to score more than two goals in any of the three games.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 21, 2022
The 2019 documentary “Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back” catches the tap-dance legend reflecting on his life, career and relationship with his brother, Tony winner Gregory Hines.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 6, 2022
I can't really tap-dance or anything, but it was a stone floor in the can, and it was good for tap-dancing.
From "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger
I tap-danced for a lot of people, and we finally got our budget.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 2, 2025
She appeared onstage in children’s acting, singing and dancing ensembles and tap-danced on radio.
From New York Times ● Jan. 31, 2024
“His Capote is wickedly funny, a sly imp ready to deliver an off-color joke about the Queen Mum, zing Robert Goulet or rhapsodize about the time he tap-danced for Louis Armstrong. …,”
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 21, 2022
He performed in cabaret shows too, and even tap-danced in one that showcased black talent and launched the career of Josephine Baker.
From BBC ● Feb. 1, 2021
I was transported to a world where men wore shiny shoes, kids tap-danced, and ladies were called dames.
From Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm
Tributes have been paid after the death of one of the lead dancers in a tap-dancing comedy troupe whose routines delighted TV audiences nationwide.
From BBC ● Dec. 19, 2023
Because it was the mispronunciation of that surname that would inspire the nickname of the great tap-dancing Richmond native Bill “Bojangles” Robinson.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 4, 2023
How did that madcap song and dance ‘Good Afternoon’ come together in Apple TV+'s ‘Spirited’? A lot of tap-dancing takes for stars Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell, for one.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2022
Soon enough, he was taking tap-dancing lessons in between Little League games and working Saturdays with his dad.
From New York Times ● Oct. 17, 2022
She moves her feet about so fast, she looks as if she’s tap-dancing.
From "American Street" by Ibi Zoboi
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.
