Bolero
//bəˈlɛɹoʊ// noun, verb
noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A lively Spanish dance in 3/4 time; also an unrelated slower-tempo dance of Cuban origin, in 2/4 time.
"Edward's attention was at first rivetted on two dancers engaged in their graceful national dance, the bolero. What a blessing to a people is a climate that encourages out-of-door amusement!"
- 2 a Spanish dance in triple time accompanied by guitar and castanets wordnet
- 3 A type of short, buttonless jacket or blouse, open or tied in front and ending at the diaphragm.
"He took the bolero, which was made of soft angora, and rubbed it up and down his cheek."
- 4 a short jacket; worn mostly by women wordnet
- 5 music written in the rhythm of the bolero dance wordnet
Verb
- 1 To dance the bolero. intransitive
Example
More examples"Edward's attention was at first rivetted on two dancers engaged in their graceful national dance, the bolero. What a blessing to a people is a climate that encourages out-of-door amusement!"
Etymology
From Spanish bolero, from bola.
More for "bolero"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.