juba

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A group dance, probably of West African origin, characterized by complex rhythmic clapping and body movements and practiced on plantations in the southern United States during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. In zoology, the long, thick-set hair on the neck, chest, or back of certain quadrupeds; a mane.
2. n. In botany, a loose panicle with the axis deliquescent; also, a dense cluster of awns, as in the spikes of some grasses.
3. n. A characteristic dance of the plantation negroes in the southern United States. It is performed by one or more dancers, and is accompanied in a rollicking manner by the spectators, who keep time by clapping the hands, slapping or patting the knee or thigh (called patting juba), tapping the ground with the foot, and occasionally joining in a childish refrain in which the word juba is often repeated. It is an invariable feature in the negro breakdown.

Wiktionary

1. n. zoology The mane of an animal.
2. n. botany A loose panicle whose axis falls to pieces, as in certain grasses.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A dance developed by slaves in the U. S., having a lively tune and accompanied by a complex rhythmic clapping, and by slapping the thighs.