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war dance
noun
: a dance performed (as by American Indians) in preparation for battle or in celebration of victory
Examples of war dance in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The bride and groom also got in on the action, with Blackmon and his groomsmen performing the Siva Tau, a Samoan war dance, and Gilmore performing the Taualuga in a traditional Samoan dress.
—Bailey Richards, Peoplemag, 17 July 2024
Football players from Euless Trinity High School performed a war dance Monday evening in front of Texas Star Golf Course in Euless.
—Kamal Morgan, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Apr. 2024
Hakas are often mistakenly called traditional war dances.
—Greg McKenna, BostonGlobe.com, 1 Aug. 2023
Additionally, 40 students with Tongan heritage from Euless Trinity High School will attend the summit, some of whom will perform Sipi Tau, a Tongan war dance, as part of the event.
—Dallas News, 21 Apr. 2022
The men’s fancy war dance Shirley performs, meanwhile, is from the Ponca and Comanche tribes.
—Christian Allaire, Vogue, 10 Nov. 2021
The haka, a ceremonial war dance performed before events including New Zealand rugby matches, is intended as a challenge to opponents and a rallying cry before heading into battle.
—Rob Picheta, CNN, 12 May 2021
In Brisbane, organizers said about 30,000 people gathered, while a Maori group also did a traditional haka, or war dance.
—NBC News, 6 June 2020
The haka is a war dance traditionally used on the battlefield and to show a tribe’s pride, strength and unity.
—NBC News, 6 June 2020
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'war dance.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1711, in the meaning defined above
Articles Related to war dance
Dictionary Entries Near war dance
Cite this Entry
“War dance.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/war%20dance. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.
More from Merriam-Webster on war dance
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about war dance
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