hoedown

[ hoh-doun ]

noun

1. a community dancing party typically featuring folk and square dances accompanied by lively hillbilly tunes played on the fiddle.
2. the hillbilly or country music typical of a hoedown.

hoedown

/ ˈhəʊˌdaʊn /

noun

1. a boisterous square dance
2. a party at which hoedowns are danced

Word History and Origins

Origin of hoedown¹

An Americanism dating back to 1835–45; hoe + down ¹

Example Sentences

Perhaps you’ll be asked to act in a moving-picture show, participate in a mustache contest, take a drawing class, help a gang rob a bank or inspire a bashful Calico resident to ask a lady to the afternoon hoedown.

From Los Angeles Times

Kiss With A Fist became a sort of witchy hoedown, Blinding opened with a sinister cacophony of whispered incantations, and You Got The Love made ample use of the Royal Albert Hall's "Voice of Jupiter" pipe organ.

From BBC

Perhaps you’ll be asked to act in a moving-picture show, participate in a mustache contest, take a drawing class, help a gang rob a bank or inspire a bashful Calico resident to ask a lady to the afternoon hoedown.

From Los Angeles Times

It’s rocking-chair porch music or accompaniment for a foot-stomping hoedown.

From New York Times

But Roberts’s dance, which will have its New York premiere on April 17 as part of the Graham company’s season at New York City Center, isn’t a hoedown.

From New York Times

Related Words

• disco
• prom