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
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
This is a musical that treasures goofy imperfection, a scene where McInnerny does a funny little tap dance, or the joy in Shannon’s hyena cackle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 6, 2024
"I've always wanted to tap dance, and in my dotage perhaps it's something I could take up," said Queen Camilla, when she met Johannes Radebe from the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing show.
From BBC ● Feb. 2, 2024
I got bored sitting on that washbowl after a while, so I backed up a few feet and started doing this tap dance, just for the hell of it.
From "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger
The allure of her physicality and personality seemed intertwined: She was often shown laughing or making others laugh, dressed stylishly, and was known to tap-dance spontaneously in elevators.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
The show’s only nomination at last month’s Tony Awards was for Jared Grimes’s role as Brice’s friend, Eddie Ryan, a tap-dance extraordinaire who aids Brice’s rise in show business.
From New York Times ● Jul. 11, 2022
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 half expected Shirley Temple to tap-dance through our kitchen.
From Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm
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
The thing he saw in the averted glance of the servants at his boarding school; the bootblack who tap-danced for a penny.
From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison
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
The evening includes everything from elegant ballet numbers like “The Heather on the Hill” from “Brigadoon,” danced with Cyd Charisse, to tap-dancing on roller skates in a scene from “It’s Always Fair Weather.”
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 15, 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
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
In addition to the regular school sessions and the recreation program, classes of every kind were being offered all over camp: singing, acting, trumpet playing, tap-dancing, plus traditional Japanese arts like needlework, judo, and kendo.
From "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Houston
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.
