Defn: To cause to dance, or move nimbly or merrily about, or up and
down; to dandle.
To dance our ringlets to the whistling wind. Shak.
Thy grandsire loved thee well; Many a time he danced thee on his
knee. Shak.
To dance attendance, to come and go obsequiously; to be or remain in
waiting, at the beck and call of another, with a view to please or
gain favor.
A man of his place, and so near our favor, To dance attendance on
their lordships' pleasure. Shak.
DANCE
Dance, n. Etym: [F. danse, of German origin. See Dance, v. i.]
1. The leaping, tripping, or measured stepping of one who dances; an amusement, in which the movements of the persons are regulated by art, in figures and in accord with music.
2. (Mus.)
Defn: A tune by which dancing is regulated, as the minuet, the waltz, the cotillon, etc.
Note: The word dance was used ironically, by the older writers, of many proceedings besides dancing. Of remedies of love she knew parchance For of that art she couth the olde dance. Chaucer. Dance of Death (Art), an allegorical representation of the power of death over all, — the old, the young, the high, and the low, being led by a dancing skeleton. — Morris dance. See Morris. — To lead one a dance, to cause one to go through a series of movements or experiences as if guided by a partner in a dance not understood.
DANCER
Dan"cer, n.
Defn: One who dances or who practices dancing. The merry dancers, beams of the northern lights when they rise and fall alternately without any considerable change of length. See Aurora borealis, under Aurora.
DANCERESS
Dan"cer*ess, n.
Defn: A female dancer. [Obs.] Wyclif.