Library / English Dictionary

WALTZ

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A ballroom dance in triple time with a strong accent on the first beat

Synonyms:

valse; waltz

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("waltz" is a kind of...):

ballroom dance; ballroom dancing (any of a variety of social dances performed by couples in a ballroom)

Derivation:

waltz (dance a waltz)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Music composed in triple time for waltzing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("waltz" is a kind of...):

dance music (music to dance to)

Derivation:

waltz (dance a waltz)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An assured victory (especially in an election)

Synonyms:

walk-in; waltz

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("waltz" is a kind of...):

triumph; victory (a successful ending of a struggle or contest)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Dance a waltz

Synonyms:

waltz; waltz around

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "waltz" is one way to...):

dance; trip the light fantastic; trip the light fantastic toe (move in a pattern; usually to musical accompaniment; do or perform a dance)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue waltz

Derivation:

waltz (a ballroom dance in triple time with a strong accent on the first beat)

waltz (music composed in triple time for waltzing)

waltzer (a dancer who waltzes)

Credits

 Context examples: 

I waltz with the eldest Miss Larkins!

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

“It is a waltz, I think,” Miss Larkins doubtfully observes, when I present myself.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

“Do you waltz? If not, Captain Bailey—”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I go home in a state of unspeakable bliss, and waltz in imagination, all night long, with my arm round the blue waist of my dear divinity.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I am lost in the recollection of this delicious interview, and the waltz, when she comes to me again, with a plain elderly gentleman who has been playing whist all night, upon her arm, and says: Oh! here is my bold friend!

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Her glance left me and sought the lighted top of the steps where "Three o'Clock in the Morning," a neat, sad little waltz of that year, was drifting out the open door.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)