dance-time

English

Noun

dance-time

1. Alternative form of dancetime (“the time for dancing”)
   • 1850, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Sonnets from the Portuguese XXV:

     And sorrow after sorrow took the place Of all those natural joys as lightly worn As the stringed pearls, each lifted in its turn By a beating heart at dance-time.

   • 1957, Bertha Pauline Dutton, Indian Artistry in Wood and Other Media, page 10:

     Essentially, the tihü provides a means of education; it is a gift at dance-time; it is a decorative article for the home; it can be used as a toy, though not primarily so intended; but above all, it is a constant reminder of the Kachinas.

   • 1987, Alyce Taylor Cheska, Traditional Games and Dances in West African Nations, page 86:

     Before the dance begins the head dressing is covered with a raffia headdress, but is replaced with a feather one at dance-time.

2. Alternative form of dancetime (“a lively tempo”)
   • 1916, Jack London, The Little Lady of the Big House, page 27:

     As he left the head of the stairway, a dance-time piano measure and burst of laughter made him peep into a white morning room, flooded with sunshine.

   • 1934, Hervey Allen, Anthony Adverse:

     The music quickened into dance-time with the theme of a song emerging.

   • 2014, W.S. Walton, Echoes from the Past: Reflections and Stories:

     The station loudspeaker was broadcasting another Vera Lynn vintage tune, in sprightly dance-time: