waltz

English

Etymology

German Walzer, from walzen (“to dance”), from Old High German walzan (“to turn”), from Proto-Germanic *walt- (“to turn”), from Proto-Indo-European *wel- (“to turn”).

Pronunciation

Noun

waltz (plural waltzes)

  1. A ballroom dance in 3/4 time.
  2. A piece of music for this dance (or in triple time).
  3. (informal) A simple task.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

waltz (third-person singular simple present waltzes, present participle waltzing, simple past and past participle waltzed)

  1. (intransitive, transitive) To dance the waltz (with).
    They waltzed for twenty-one hours and seventeen minutes straight, setting a record.
    While waltzing her around the room, he stepped on her toes only once.
  2. (intransitive, transitive, usually with in, into, around, etc.) To move briskly and unhesitatingly, especially in an inappropriately casual manner, or when unannounced or uninvited.
    He waltzed into the room like he owned the place.
    You can't just waltz him in here without documentation!
    • 2011 September 28, Tom Rostance, “Arsenal 2 - 1 Olympiakos”, in BBC Sport‎:
      Oxlade-Chamberlain, 18, became the youngest English Champions League scorer when he waltzed across the area to plant a low shot into the corner.
  3. (informal) To accomplish a task with little effort.
    Don't worry about the interview — you'll waltz it.
  4. (transitive) To move with fanfare.
    • 1884, Mark Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Chapter the Last:
      And he said, what he had planned in his head from the start, if we got Jim out all safe, was for us to […] take him back up home on a steamboat, in style, and pay him for his lost time, and write word ahead and get out all the niggers around, and have them waltz him into town with a torchlight procession and a brass-band, and then he would be a hero, and so would we.

Translations

Czech

Noun

waltz m

  1. waltz (dance)

Further reading
  • waltz in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
  • waltz in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.