polka

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“
It was either a waltz or a polka, a fox-trot in one key or another.

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Definitions (10)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. noun A lively dance originating in Bohemia and performed by couples.
  2. noun Music for this dance, having duple meter.
  3. intransitive verb To dance the polka.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (3)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (3)

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Examples (50)

  • Although polka is Polish for "Polish woman," the polka dance is actually of Bohemian origin, and polka may be a corruption of the Czech woidpulka (half), referring to the short half steps involved in the dance. —  The Word Detective
  • Black stars dancing the bumblebee polka--stinging multiplying, imploding inside your brain, hot honey drip drip dripping down your spine. —  F ;SF - vol 105 issue 01 - July 2003
  • Its white panelled walls were not very tall but in their time they had embraced with ease twenty couples at the polka, and they were hung with old colour engravings in delicate oval frames. —  Deadly Duo: ‘Wanted, someone innocent’—‘Last act’ - Margery Allingham
  • Then Lerner woke, tasting ashes as usual, and saw Cleo's scared face and chignon peeping around the bedroom door like a polka-dotted messenger of doom. —  FSF,March2008
  • One of the girls taught her to dance the polka, and a little boy showed her his rabbits and spelled their names for her. —  Story of My Life
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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Czech, probably from Polish, from Polka, Polish woman, feminine of Polak, Pole; see pelə-2 in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from French polka = German polka, a polka, so called with reference to the half-step prevalent in it, from Bohemian pulka, half; cf. Polish pol, half, Russian polorina, a half.
 

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/ˈpoʊlkə/
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