Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To spring forward on the hind legs. Used of a horse.
- intransitive verb To spring or bound forward in a manner reminiscent of a spirited horse.
- intransitive verb To ride a horse moving in such a fashion.
- intransitive verb To walk or move about spiritedly; strut.
- intransitive verb To cause (a horse) to prance.
- noun The act or an instance of prancing.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To make a show in walking; move proudly, lifting the feet with a rearing or capering motion: used of horses in high mettle.
- To ride with a rearing or capering motion; ride gaily, proudly, or insolently.
- To walk, strut, or caper in an elated, proud, or conceited manner.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To spring or bound, as a horse in high mettle.
- intransitive verb To ride on a prancing horse; to ride in an ostentatious manner.
- intransitive verb To walk or strut about in a pompous, showy manner, or with warlike parade.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun uncommon The act of
prancing . - verb of a horse To
spring forward on thehind legs . - verb colloquial, figuratively To
strut about.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a proud stiff pompous gait
- verb cause (a horse) to bound spring forward
- verb spring forward on the hind legs
- verb to walk with a lofty proud gait, often in an attempt to impress others
- verb ride a horse such that it springs and bounds forward
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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*caper caper prance prance* I duz teh pinkee toepads dantz!
1 in 6 wins fantastic prize… - Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger? 2009
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*caper caper, prance prance* Pinkee Pinkee Toe Pads, FTW!
ok u caught me - Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger? 2008
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We find: (1) The elongated or stretched-leg "prance"
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Horses 'prance' only in children's story books and yet here she was prancing and goose-stepping as she was cheered all the way from her backstretch stable to the paddock.
Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph 2010
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A meal that is prepared with the proper respect for ingredients but that entails far less work than a "prance" is called "a nice little supper."
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A "prance" is a meal on which the hostess has labored for at least a week.
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He came two steps into the room in a kind of prance, as if his body wanted to take off and he couldn’t quite fight it down.
Dexter in the Dark Lindsay, Jeff 2007
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In other words, we the taxpayer paid each teacher $200 or so to prance around demanding more of our tax money.
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But she was criticized as a showboat for her victory prance around the field with an enormous fake gold medal dangling from her neck and a cell phone pressed to her ear.
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Writers are a contentious, socially isolated lot, but is this online medium forcing us to prance delicately around the china shop, advertising our wares in the most bland fashion possible?
Enframing or, What’s My Motivation? darkerblogistan 2009
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