prance

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“
The horses were frightened by the splash and began to prance, and the son ran to their heads, beside himself with fear.

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Definitions (15)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (6)

  1. intransitive verb To spring forward on the hind legs. Used of a horse.
  2. intransitive verb To spring or bound forward in a manner reminiscent of a spirited horse.
  3. intransitive verb To ride a horse moving in such a fashion.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (3)

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

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Examples (50)

  • Something cracked her down in mid-prance: She dropped to the ground, bright white stars and planets orbiting her dazed head. —  Night Mare
  • He did a massive prance, his hindquarters rising and descending in an arc, bringing his front part abruptly adjacent to Bink. —  A Spell for Chameleon
  • Startled, Civin did a loose-jointed backwards prance which ended when his rump met the workbench, narrowly missing the still-hot point of the incineclipper he had dropped there. —  SF Quarterly
  • During her writhing prance, bulbs all over her flash on and off. —  dummy 3
  • Instead of a single kitchen window in which to prance, he had three. —  THE CAT WHO WENT BANANAS
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

riderless ·  milk-white ·  frisk ·  piebald ·  raw-boned ·  roan ·  restive ·  coal-black ·  half-broken ·  sorrel ·  trotting

Used in the same contextWord Family

prance:   prancing
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English prauncen.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Middle English prancen, prauncen, prance, literally show off; an assibilated form of prank. Cf. German dial. (Bavarian) prangezen, prangssen, assume airs, Swiss spranzen, strut.
 

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/præns/
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