Probably earlier than 1925–30
First recorded in 1925–30
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
There’s even a subset of manosphere influencers who are doing this tap dance with Islam.
From Salon ● May 4, 2026
The 21-year-old from Chula Vista who came one round short of advancing to the knockout stages grew up in jazz and tap dance, but the disciplines got expensive.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 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
Bobo’s catch and tap dance were so jaw-dropping that officials initially ruled him out of bounds before Pete Carroll challenged the ruling.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 22, 2023
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
On Monday morning, Michele shared a video of her practicing the musical’s tap-dance numbers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2022
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
Rather than sing a popular standard, he auditioned by performing a tap-dance routine and fencing with his brother.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 30, 2021
I swing my arms more wildly and pretend to tap-dance in place.
From "Ask the Passengers" by A.S. King
She appeared onstage in children’s acting, singing and dancing ensembles and tap-danced on radio.
From New York Times ● Jan. 31, 2024
Thomas was 55 in 1972, a vaudevillian in the 1930s who had tap-danced and emceed his way to modest success.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2022
“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
And her heels were clicking down the linoleum hall as Bailey tap-danced up the stairs to his room.
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
It's the only song that really leans into the showgirl concept, with a percussive tap-dancing interlude and ostentatious key changes, as the stars trade lines about their cut-throat industry.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2025
Maurice and Gregory Hines achieved early fame as perhaps the last of the great tap-dancing duos to emerge from the classic age of tap.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 2, 2024
Phillip Attmore’s suave, tap-dancing Tinman, Nate Tenenbaum’s sassy Lion and Nehemiah Hooks’ lovable Scarecrow all shine in their introductory songs alongside a cast whose riffs and vocal runs are worthy of their own studio recording.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 29, 2022
Marx’s tap-dancing prowess would land her a job in a private Florida club owned by famed showman Florenz Ziegfeld.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 21, 2022
Until well into the night they could be heard chattering and singing and tap-dancing, so that the house resembled a boarding school where there was no discipline.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
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.
