sword dance
Preserved but no longer current.
A Scottish dance performed over two swords laid crosswise on the floor, or sometimes danced among swords placed point downwards in the ground : also a dance in which the men brandish swords and clash them together, the women passing under them when crossed.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “sword dance” mean?
A Scottish dance performed over two swords laid crosswise on the floor, or sometimes danced among swords placed point downwards in the ground : also a dance in which the men brandish swords and clash them together, the women passing under them when crossed.
Is “sword dance” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.