fox trot

¹

noun

1. a social dance, in quadruple meter, performed by couples, characterized by various combinations of slow and quick steps.
2. a pace, as of a horse, consisting of a series of short steps, as in slackening from a trot to a walk.

fox-trot

²

[ foks-trot ]

verb (used without object)

, fox-trot·ted, fox-trot·ting.

1. to dance a fox trot.

Word History and Origins

Origin of fox trot¹

An Americanism dating back to 1870–75

Origin of fox trot²

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

Over the last 75 years, Holzman has danced his way around the city’s events to the rhythms of swing, fox-trot, samba, and salsa.

From Reuters

He seemed “like a fox-trot man caught in a rock-and-roll culture,” New York Times reporter R.W.

From Washington Post

In the end, Mr. Pomfret concludes, the two nations “will successfully fox-trot, albeit clumsily” and the relationship will lurch ahead.

From Wall Street Journal

In cycles of converging time She whirls into engrossing toil, And does a fox-trot to the rhyme Of filtered smoke-puffs in turmoil.

From New York Times

But it is a rare luxury to be able to turn to the scorers Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson and watch them fox-trot past defenders and bury 28-foot jumpers.

From New York Times