juba

¹ American  

[joo-buh] / ˈdʒu bə /

noun

1. a lively dance characterized by rhythmic hand clapping, body and thigh slapping, and stomping, developed by African Americans enslaved on Southern plantations in the 19th century.

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Juba ² American  

[joo-bah] / ˈdʒu bɑ /

noun

1. a female day name for Monday. day name

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Juba ³ American  

[joo-bah] / ˈdʒu bɑ /

noun

1. Italian Giuba.  a river in E Africa, flowing S from S Ethiopia through Somalia to the Indian Ocean. 1,000 miles (1,609 km) long.

2. the capital of South Sudan, on the White Nile.

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Juba ¹ British  

/ ˈdʒuːbə /

noun

1. a river in NE Africa, rising in S central Ethiopia and flowing south across Somalia to the Indian Ocean: the chief river of Somalia. Length: about 1660 km (1030 miles)

2. the capital of South Sudan, on the White Nile river. Pop: 250 000 (2006 est)

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juba ² British  

/ ˈdʒuːbə /

noun

1. a lively African-American dance developed in the southern US

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Etymology

Origin of juba

An Americanism dating back to 1825–35; of obscure origin

Example Sentences

The third movement, based on the juba, the African American dance replete with stomping and slapping the arms, was a juba, fast and a little erratic, not symphonically suave.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 21, 2022

The juba dance movement of Price’s Third features asymmetrical phrasing, rhythmic complexity and interaction between sections.

From New York Times • Oct. 27, 2022

We see why when he leaves the organ and heads out into the studio audience with his sister Rose: After her solo, he performs a dance routine drawn from Africa, patting juba.

From New York Times • Feb. 10, 2022

A spiritual, harmonically inventive composition, it climaxes with an allegretto apparently modelled after the African-American "juba" dance once practised on US plantations.

From BBC • Sep. 10, 2021

Harriet was in a stupor most of the time, deaf to the laughter, the dancing and the singing, deaf to the clack of the bones, the beat of the juba.

From "Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad" by Ann Petry