hula

American

[hoo-luh] / ˈhu lə /

noun

a sinuous Hawaiian dance with intricate arm movements that tell a story in pantomime, usually danced to rhythmic drumming and accompanied by chanting.

hula British

/ ˈhuːlə /

noun

a Hawaiian dance performed by a woman

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of hula

Borrowed into English from Hawaiian around 1815–25

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

I made a long-haired wig and a hula skirt out of sausages.

From BBC • Apr. 20, 2024

Family, activists and observers displayed a five-foot-long hula hoe, a type of gardening tool that has a metal D-shaped fixture on the end for digging into dirt, that Gainer held when he was shot.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 21, 2024

He reveals that he sprained it while hula hooping and he even shows photos.

From Salon • Dec. 14, 2023

“Our top five runners, we could’ve thrown a hula hoop around them,” he said.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 4, 2023

The little boy with the time, number forty-five, gets called to the audition room, and I watch him take in a library’s worth of sheet music, and a hula hoop and a DVD.

From "Better Nate Than Ever" by Tim Federle

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023