Yankee Doodle

American  

[dood-l] / ˈdud l /

noun

1. (italics) a song with a melody of apparent British origin, popular with American troops during the Revolutionary War.

2. a Yankee.

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Yankee Doodle British  

noun

1. an American song, popularly regarded as a characteristically national melody

2. another name for Yankee

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“Yankee Doodle” Cultural  

1. A popular American song, dating from the eighteenth century. The early settlers of New York were Dutch, and the Dutch name for Johnny is Janke, pronounced “Yankee.” This is the most likely origin of the term Yankee. Doodle meant “simpleton” in seventeenth-century English. First sung during the American Revolutionary War by the British troops to poke fun at the strange ways of the Americans (Yankees), the song was soon adopted by American troops themselves. Since then, the song has been considered an expression of American patriotism. The popular version of the first stanza is:

   Yankee Doodle came to town

   Riding on a pony;

   He stuck a feather in his hat

   And called it macaroni.

   Yankee Doodle, keep it up,

   Yankee Doodle dandy;

   Mind the music and the step,

   And with the girls be handy.

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Example Sentences

Taxpayers can thank entertainer George M. Cohan, who wrote the song known as Yankee Doodle Dandy, for this largess.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 6, 2026

"I know of only two tunes: one of them is Yankee Doodle Dandy, and the other isn't."

From Salon • Dec. 24, 2022

“When you opened the door, it played Yankee Doodle Dandy,” said Clayton Pennington, a Maine Antique Digest reporter, according to an article in CBC.

From The Verge • Oct. 16, 2020

It was a hot day for Concord, sunny and ninety degrees on Main Street, with its stolid Yankee Doodle Dandy red-brick buildings.

From The New Yorker • Aug. 14, 2019

“Let Claudio do what he want. We’s trying to get the South Carol-liney offen y’all and, much as it’s gonna turn y’all’s stomachs, turn y’all into a couple of Yankee Doodle dandies.”

From "The Journey of Little Charlie" by Christopher Paul Curtis