Definitions

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

  • noun An exuberant dance that originated in France, performed by women and marked by high kicking.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To perform the dance known as the cancan (which see).
  • noun A kind of dance performed in low resorts by men and women, who indulge in extravagant postures and lascivious gestures; hence, a quadrille or a similar dance performed in this manner.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A rollicking French dance, accompanied by indecorous or extravagant postures and gestures.

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

  • noun A high-kicking chorus line dance originating in France.
  • noun motocross A trick where one leg is brought over the seat, so that both legs are on one side.
  • verb To dance the cancan.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a high-kicking dance of French origin performed by a female chorus line

Etymologies

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

[French.]

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Examples

  • Is it mere coincidence that the most representative Parisian dance is called the cancan?

    Skinny Legs and All Robbins, Tom 1990

  • After dinner du Maurier and Barty sang capital songs of the quartier latin, and told stories of the atelier, and even danced a kind of cancan together -- an invention of their own -- which they called "_le dernier des Abencerrages_."

    The Martian George Du Maurier 1865

  • The word "cancan" in French means "scandal," and the high-kicks and lifting and tossing of skirts did scandalize

    Answers.com: Today's Highlights 2009

  • This night his tiny fingers made shadows that turned into a line of kicking cancan dancers on the curtain fabric.

    Bubble in the Bathtub Jo Nesbo 2011

  • And in that light he saw an amazingly beautiful rainbow, like a line of multicolored, high-kicking cancan dancers at the Moulin Rouge in Paris in 1909.

    Bubble in the Bathtub Jo Nesbo 2011

  • Fancy abandoned the cancan for the Charlie Brown theme song.

    Slice Of Cherry Dia Reeves 2011

  • Fancy abandoned the cancan for the Charlie Brown theme song.

    Slice Of Cherry Dia Reeves 2011

  • Just as naked as the day I was born, in front of a huge audience and eight super-attractive cancan dancers.

    Bubble in the Bathtub Jo Nesbo 2011

  • Fancy abandoned the cancan for the Charlie Brown theme song.

    Slice Of Cherry Dia Reeves 2011

  • It clearly depicted a little boy and a slightly bigger woman dancing the cancan and every once in a while kissing a little.

    Bubble in the Bathtub Jo Nesbo 2011

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