Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun In dance, a kicking movement done with a lifted leg.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Opposed to the cadence (see cadence, 4 ) in that in the latter the trill begins with the principal note.
  • noun A beating; striking; impulse.
  • noun In music, a trill-like ornament, consisting of a slow shake of a tone with the next tone below, beginning with the latter: common in old-fashioned music.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun ballet A ballet move involving a beating action with an extended leg
  • noun obsolete A thumping or beating sensation

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, action of beating, battement, from Old French, action of beating, from batre, to beat; see batter.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French battement.

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