Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
hoedown [hoh-doun] ExamplesWord Origin See more synonyms for hoedown on Thesaurus.com noun
- a community dancing party typically featuring folk and square dances accompanied by lively hillbilly tunes played on the fiddle.
- the hillbilly or country music typical of a hoedown.
Origin of hoedown An Americanism dating back to 1835–45; hoe + down1 Related Words for hoedown prom, disco, jump, mingle, hop, shindig, promenade, reception, ball, masquerade, brawl, social, formal, hoedown, contredanse, quadrille, fight, fracas, fray, free-for-all Examples from the Web for hoedown Contemporary Examples of hoedown
The 6-year-old sensation began with a hoedown, in a pair of blue sparkling hot pants and a jean jacket.
Inside the Toddler Fashion Show
Isabel Wilkinson
September 16, 2011
Historical Examples of hoedown
Wims was back at the hoedown only this time without even his briefs.
I Was a Teen-Age Secret Weapon
Richard Sabia
In addition, all brought whatever had been ready for a hoedown in the making.
James Arthur Kjelgaard
“It doesn’t matter whether it’s illness or a civic problem or a hoedown, Wilomene is always called on,” people said.
Edith Eudora Kohl
In the evening the attachés of the show were quite apt to be invited to a plantation dance or “hoedown.”
W. C. Coup
British Dictionary definitions for hoedown hoedown noun US and Canadian
- a boisterous square dance
- a party at which hoedowns are danced
Word Origin and History for hoedown n.
“noisy dance,” 1841, apparently originally the name of a specific dance, perhaps from perceived parallel of dance motions to those of farm chores, hence from hoe (n.).
The step of every negro dance that was ever known, was called into requisition and admirably executed. They performed the “double shuffle,” the “Virginny break-down,” the “Kentucky heeltap,” the “pigeon wing,” the “back balance lick,” the “Arkansas hoe down,” with unbounded applause and irresistible effect. [“Scouting Expeditions of McCulloch’s Texas Rangers,” 1848]
“Hoe corn, hill tobacco” is noted as a line in the chorus of a slave song in 1838, and Washington Irving writes of a dance called “hoe corn and dig potatoes” in 1807.
The same precedence is repeated until all the merchandise is disposed of, the table is then banished the room, and the whole party hoe it down in straight fours and set dances, till the hour when “ghosts wandering here and there, troop home to church-yards.” This is what we kintra folk call a strauss. [“Der Teufelskerl. A Tale of German Pennsylvania,” in “Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine,” January 1840]