tap dance
noun
1
: a step dance tapped out audibly by means of shoes with hard soles or soles and heels to which taps have been added
2
: something suggesting a tap dance
especially
: an action or discourse intended to rationalize or distract
does a clever tap dance to explain —
Campbell Geeslin
Campbell Geeslin 
Examples of tap dance in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The whole episode is about the tap dance these characters have to do in order to fund news coverage.
—Gerrad Hall, EW.com, 7 June 2024
This production is also buoyed throughout by strong tap dance scenes, especially two solos from Izaiah Montaque Harris as Eddie Ryan.
—Christopher Smith, Orange County Register, 30 May 2024
People haul out a piano and play it underneath the arch for those great acoustics, people tap dance, people will busk.
—Sarah Bahr, New York Times, 18 May 2024
In the new staging the character of Tristan is an East Londoner — as is Essiedu – who woos Connie with dance moves inspired by rappers Childish Gambino and Tyler, the Creator, while original Tristan performed an Irish tap dance.
—Kalia Richardson, Rolling Stone, 30 Mar. 2024
There’s a showstopping sequence in the first act in which Clyde Alves, as Jimmy’s Italian best friend, Tommy, leads a tap dance atop the steel beams of a skyscraper under construction.
—Vulture, 26 Apr. 2023
Both brothers were key figures in the revival of tap dancing through their teaching, performing and personal connection to greats of the past.
—Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 2 Jan. 2024
In the 1980s, this relationship between jazz music and tap dance began resurfacing in public ways across New York and Los Angeles.
—Brynn Shiovitz, Los Angeles Times, 11 Dec. 2023
Trump's tap dance — touting Operation Warp Speed's success at developing vaccines while criticizing vaccine use — is emblematic of how pandemic politics are intensifying broader vaccine politics.
—Darius Tahir, CBS News, 20 Nov. 2023
Gerrad Hall, EW.com, 7 June 2024
This production is also buoyed throughout by strong tap dance scenes, especially two solos from Izaiah Montaque Harris as Eddie Ryan.
—Christopher Smith, Orange County Register, 30 May 2024
People haul out a piano and play it underneath the arch for those great acoustics, people tap dance, people will busk.
—Sarah Bahr, New York Times, 18 May 2024
In the new staging the character of Tristan is an East Londoner — as is Essiedu – who woos Connie with dance moves inspired by rappers Childish Gambino and Tyler, the Creator, while original Tristan performed an Irish tap dance.
—Kalia Richardson, Rolling Stone, 30 Mar. 2024
There’s a showstopping sequence in the first act in which Clyde Alves, as Jimmy’s Italian best friend, Tommy, leads a tap dance atop the steel beams of a skyscraper under construction.
—Vulture, 26 Apr. 2023
Both brothers were key figures in the revival of tap dancing through their teaching, performing and personal connection to greats of the past.
—Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 2 Jan. 2024
In the 1980s, this relationship between jazz music and tap dance began resurfacing in public ways across New York and Los Angeles.
—Brynn Shiovitz, Los Angeles Times, 11 Dec. 2023
Trump's tap dance — touting Operation Warp Speed's success at developing vaccines while criticizing vaccine use — is emblematic of how pandemic politics are intensifying broader vaccine politics.
—Darius Tahir, CBS News, 20 Nov. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tap dance.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near tap dance
Cite this Entry
“Tap dance.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tap%20dance. Accessed 14 Jun. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share