a ballroom dance, in moderately fast triple meter, in which the dancers revolve in perpetual circles, taking one step to each beat.
2.
a piece of music for, or in the rhythm of, this dance.
3.
Informal. an easy victory or accomplishment: The game was a waltz—we won by four touchdowns. The math exam was a waltz.
–adjective
4.
of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the waltz, as music, rhythm, or dance: waltz tempo.
–verb (used without object)
5.
to dance or move in a waltz step or rhythm: an invitation to waltz.
6.
Informal.
a.
to move breezily or casually: to waltz in late for dinner.
b.
to progress easily or successfully (often fol. by through): to waltz through an exam.
–verb (used with object)
7.
to lead (a partner) in dancing a waltz.
8.
Informal. to move or lead briskly and easily: He waltzed us right into the governor's office.
9.
to fill (a period of time) with waltzing (often fol. by away, through, etc.): They waltzed the night away.
[Origin: 1775–85; back formation from G Walzer a waltz (taken as walz + -er1), deriv. of walzen to roll, dance; cf. obs. E walt unsteady, dial. walter to roll]
waltz, romantic dance in moderate triple time. It evolved from the German Ländler and became popular in the 18th cent. The dance is smooth, graceful, and vital in performance. The waltz in Vicente Martin's opera Una cosa rara, produced in Vienna (1776), is regarded as the first Viennese waltz. This type was later made famous by the two Johann Strausses, father and son. The younger Strauss composed the Blue Danube Waltz, the most popular of the Viennese style. The waltz was introduced in the United States via England in the early 19th cent. Mozart, Chopin, Berlioz, Brahms, Richard Strauss, and Ravel have also composed waltzes.
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