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Prance   Listen
verb
Prance  v. i.  (past & past part. pranced; pres. part. prancing)  
1.
To spring or bound, as a horse in high mettle. "Now rule thy prancing steed."
2.
To ride on a prancing horse; to ride in an ostentatious manner. "The insulting tyrant prancing o'er the field."
3.
To walk or strut about in a pompous, showy manner, or with warlike parade.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Prance" Quotes from Famous Books



... sounded as if she were almost there herself. She flung along by his side with a vindictive little click of her high-heeled boots and a prance of her whole elaborate little person that showed she was ...
— The Witness • Grace Livingston Hill Lutz

... horse is good to prance A right fair measure in this war-dance, Before the eyes of Philip of France; Ah! qu'elle ...
— The Defence of Guenevere and Other Poems • William Morris

... own feet began to prance. And very faintly across her cheek-bones a little flicker ...
— Little Eve Edgarton • Eleanor Hallowell Abbott

... a sack of toys that stood in a dark corner and gave Walter a cart and horse. At first it was quite small; but when she set it on the floor, it grew and grew until it was large enough for a seven year's old boy to ride in. And O marvel, the wooden horse began to prance as if it ...
— Fairy Tales from the German Forests • Margaret Arndt

... says you're most as nice as her pony. Prance right up and get your lump of sugar and your measure ...
— The Merriweather Girls and the Mystery of the Queen's Fan • Lizette M. Edholm

... see the glittering tops Of snow-peaked mounts, the wid'ning vale's expanse, Large prairies where free herds of horses prance, Exhaustless wealth of crops, In vast, ...
— The Poems of Emma Lazarus - Vol. I (of II.), Narrative, Lyric, and Dramatic • Emma Lazarus

... by Oates and the other whom he called Prance, dived again into the darkness. Now he had no fears. He saw himself acclaimed with the Doctor as the saviour of the nation, and the door of Aldersgate Street open at his knocking. The man Prance produced a lantern, and lighted them up the steps and into the ...
— The Path of the King • John Buchan

... in countries like England and Prance, where from the climatic conditions skating must be a very occasional amusement, there is a special word for the pastime, and that in Germany and Russia, where every winter brings its skating as a matter of course, there should be no word for it. "Skate" ...
— The Days Before Yesterday • Lord Frederick Hamilton

... Nan!" she cried. "A perfect dream! I never saw such a beautiful bride. Oh, I am so glad you're coming to live with us, and then I can try on that white satin confection and prance around in it myself." ...
— Patty's Summer Days • Carolyn Wells

... left-half, twisted his ankle, and Joel was taken on in his place. They were playing Amherst, and Joel has ever since held that college in high esteem, for that it was against its Eleven he made his debut into Harwell football life. And how he played! The captain smiled as he watched him prance down the field after a punt, never content to be there in time, but always striving to get there first, and not seldom succeeding. Once ...
— The Half-Back • Ralph Henry Barbour

... horses, oh, see them prance And daintily lift their hoofs and dance, While beautiful ladies with golden curls Are jingling their bridles of gold and pearls, And close behind Come every kind Of animal cages great and small, O how I ...
— Child Songs of Cheer • Evaleen Stein

... its legislators the issue of a currency not based on the idea of redemption in standard coin recognized in the commerce of civilized nations, it intrusts to them the power to raise or depress the value of every article in the possession of every citizen. Louis XIV had claimed that all property in Prance was his own, and that what private persons held was as much his as if it were in his coffers. But even this assumption is exceeded by the confiscating power exercised in a country, where, instead of leaving ...
— Fiat Money Inflation in France - How It Came, What It Brought, and How It Ended • Andrew Dickson White

... the fifteenth century, as possessing a flourishing commerce and a degree of opulence unexampled since the conquest. It was filled with an active population, employed in the various mechanic arts. Its domestic fabrics, as well as natural products, of oil, wine, wool, etc., supplied a trade with Prance, Flanders, Italy, and England. (Zuniga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 341.—See also Sempere, Historia del Luxo, p. 81, nota 2.) The ports of Biscay, which belonged to the Castilian crown, were the marts of an extensive trade with the north, during the ...
— History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella V1 • William H. Prescott

... caper when they wake, Merry that it is morn, My flowers from a hundred cribs Will peep, and prance again. ...
— Poems: Three Series, Complete • Emily Dickinson

... York harbor a number of cases of Spanish influenza had developed among the several companies of soldiers who were aboard, a number of whom were removed from the ship. So anxious were others of these American fighting men to reach Prance that they hid away until ...
— The War Romance of the Salvation Army • Evangeline Booth and Grace Livingston Hill

... never all in lovely France Was there a Deer so tame; Ah, but to see her start and prance When ...
— The Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts • Abbie Farwell Brown

... two began to salaam one another, and mouth out fool phrases, and cavort and prance and caracole, until I thought them mad. When they departed there was a dreadful scene. Each refused to go through the door before the other. There was a frightful deadlock. They each bowed and scraped and waved ...
— The O'Ruddy - A Romance • Stephen Crane

... person of their hero. Cannon are booming as he steps into his open carriage that evening on the levee, where the piles of river freight are covered with people. Transparencies are dodging in the darkness. A fresh band strikes up "Hail Columbia," and the four horses prance away, followed closely by the "Independent Broom Rangers." "The shouts for Douglas," remarked a keen observer who was present, "must have penetrated Abraham's bosom ...
— The Crossing • Winston Churchill

... Clara Morse's brains from idiocy. In my day, all such feeble watery minds as hers were regarded as semi-imbecile, pitied as intellectual cripples, and wisely kept in the background of society; but, bless me! in this generation they skip and prance to the very edge of the front, pose in indecent garments without starch, or crinoline, or even the protection of pleats and gathers; and insult good, sound, wholesome common sense with the sickening affectations they are pleased ...
— At the Mercy of Tiberius • August Evans Wilson

... an education. Did you ever observe colts running about wild upon the common?" Tommy.—yes, sir, very often. Mr Barlow.—And do you think it would be an easy matter for any one to mount upon their backs or ride them? T.—By no means; I think that they would kick and prance to that degree that they would throw any person down. Mr B.—And yet your little horse very frequently takes you upon his back, and carries you very safely between this and your father's house. T.—That is because he is used to it. Mr B.—But he was not always used to it; he was once a colt, ...
— The History of Sandford and Merton • Thomas Day

... dusk. These things, and many others, interested her. The three cows after they had grazed for a long time would come and lie by her side and look at her as they chewed their cud, and the goats would prance from the bracken to push their heads against her ...
— The Crock of Gold • James Stephens

... end of the canvas, and gave it a vigorous jerk, thus liberating the dog, who began to prance about his master. A second pull revealed Nugget's legs thrashing wildly about on the grass. The dog immediately made a dart at them, but the farmer caught him by the scruff of the neck and ...
— Canoe Boys and Campfires - Adventures on Winding Waters • William Murray Graydon

... curb or Pelham. I have known cases of horses which had been sold at a great sacrifice on account of this trick, become perfectly steady in a few days when properly handled. On the other hand, there are animals which prance from vice, and refuse to obey even the best horsewomen. I know of nothing more annoying to a lady, for it causes her to feel hot and uncomfortable, to say nothing of a possible headache and pain ...
— The Horsewoman - A Practical Guide to Side-Saddle Riding, 2nd. Ed. • Alice M. Hayes

... brother and his wife came and sang the song and received the same answer and then her mother's brother and father's sister came and then all her relations, but all in vain. Last of all came her brother riding on a horse and when he heard his sister's answer he turned his horse round and made it prance and kick until it kicked open the stone door of the cave; but this was of no avail for inside were inner doors which he could not open; so he also had to go home and leave ...
— Folklore of the Santal Parganas • Cecil Henry Bompas

... distinguished him from the other Americans, and the regulars gave him the name of 'Death on the pale horse.' A dozen bullets whizzed by his head, when he made the first assault, but, undismayed, the old patriot continued to prance his gay steed over the heads of the foot-soldiers—to do his own business faithfully, in the belief that, because others did wrong by firing at him, it would be no excuse for him to do wrong by sparing the hireling ...
— The Yankee Tea-party - Or, Boston in 1773 • Henry C. Watson

... mean," he answered. "You mean, don't the wild horses wish that they could live in a fine stable, and have a lot of men to feed and take care of them, and rig them out with fancy, gold-mounted harness, and let them prance down the streets for the crowds to see? No; horses have more sense than that. It takes a human to make that kind of a fool of himself. There's only one thing in the world that would make me want to try it, and I guess you know what ...
— When A Man's A Man • Harold Bell Wright

... walk, march, step, tread, pace, plod, wend, go by shank's mare; promenade; trudge, tramp; stalk, stride, straddle, strut, foot it, hoof it, stump, bundle, bowl along, toddle; paddle; tread a path. take horse, ride, drive, trot, amble, canter, prance, fisk[obs3], frisk, caracoler[obs3], caracole; gallop &c. (move quickly) 274. [start riding] embark, board, set out, hit the road, get going, get underway. peg on, jog on, wag on, shuffle on; stir one's stumps; bend one's steps, bend one's course; make one's way, find one's ...
— Roget's Thesaurus

... attracted by the offers, and all the more so when he received from Montague—now Earl of Sandwich—a favourable account of the value of Tangier. Portugal had given more generous aid to the Royalist cause in its extremity than either Prance or Spain, and it had incurred the vengeance of Cromwell by giving shelter in the Tagus to Prince Rupert's fleet when it was hard pressed by Cromwell's ships. Such an alliance seemed not unlikely to be well received by ...
— The Life of Edward Earl of Clarendon V2 • Henry Craik

... blue; a dim, dull, sepulchral, leaden tinge fell over its purity. The hum of gnats arose, the bat flew in circling whirls over the tents, horns sounded from all quarters, the sun had set, the sabbath had commenced. The forge was mute, the fire extinguished, the prance of horses and the bustle of men in a moment ceased. A deep, a sudden, an all-pervading stillness dropped over that mighty host. It was night; the sacred lamps of the sabbath sparkled in every tent of the camp, which vied in ...
— The Astronomy of the Bible - An Elementary Commentary on the Astronomical References - of Holy Scripture • E. Walter Maunder

... into his pocket, and continued his walk up and down the inn-parlor. He had spent most of his time, for the past week, in walking up and down. He continued to measure the length of the little salle of the Armes de Prance until the day began to wane, when he went out to keep his rendezvous with Mrs. Bread. The path which led up the hill to the ruin was easy to find, and Newman in a short time had followed it to the top. He ...
— The American • Henry James

... headed for home at last, checked high and as full of prance as a spotted circus horse. Those Dutchmen ain't so bad as their language, after all, for they've fixed up my rheumatism so that I can bear down on my right leg without thinking that it's ...
— Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son • George Horace Lorimer

... and their weather-beaten crew approached the wooden gateway of Port Royal, Neptune issued forth, followed by his tritons, who greeted the voyagers in good French verse, written in all haste for the occasion by Lescarbot. And, as they entered, they beheld, blazoned over the arch, the arms of Prance, circled with laurels, and flanked by the scuteheons ...
— Pioneers Of France In The New World • Francis Parkman, Jr.

... long pursuit, but that did not keep back Whitey's laughter when Bull staggered up to where they waited for him. He sure was a happy dog, and fatigue did not keep him from showing it, his method being to twist his body into almost a half-circle, wag his stump tail, and prance about gazing delightedly up ...
— Injun and Whitey to the Rescue • William S. Hart

... Granada. The Spanish cavalry, in those days, were as remarkable for the skillful management, as for the ostentatious caparison of their horses. Among the troops brought out from Spain by Ovando, one horseman had disciplined his horse to prance and curvet in time to the music of a viol. [208] The joust was appointed to take place of a Sunday after dinner, in the public square, before the house where Ovando was quartered. The cavalry and foot-soldiers had their secret instructions. ...
— The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus (Vol. II) • Washington Irving

... seen and heard all that took place. They had all they could do to suppress their mirth, and when Tubbs came storming out of the drug store they lost no time in disappearing out of sight behind the building. They watched the stylishly-dressed student prance down the street, brandishing his cane viciously in ...
— The Rover Boys in Alaska - or Lost in the Fields of Ice • Arthur M. Winfield

... except my own, It should be yours; but, d—n my blood! I must pursue the public good: The faction (is it not notorious?) [4]Keck at the memory of Glorious:[5] 'Tis true; nor need I to be told, My quondam friends are grown so cold, That scarce a creature can be found To prance with me his statue round. The public safety, I foresee, Henceforth depends alone on me; And while this vital breath I blow, Or from above or from below, I'll sputter, swagger, curse, and rail, The Tories' terror, scourge, and flail. M. Tim, you mistake the matter quite; The Tories! ...
— Poems (Volume II.) • Jonathan Swift

... Hospice de Prance and the Cascades—des Demoiselles, et du Parisien, 9 1/4 miles. Carriage-road all the way. Landau, 25 frs.; but 4 frs. per seat in the Hospice diligence ...
— Twixt France and Spain • E. Ernest Bilbrough

... his stead is come again; Prize hath he made of steeds and many a baggage-train; Yea, horses hath he brought, full fair of shape and hue, Whose collars, anklet-like, ring to the bridle-rein. Taper of hoofs and straight of stature, in the dust They prance, as like a flood they pour across the plain; And on their saddles perched are warriors richly clad, That with their hands do smite on kettle-drums amain. Couched are their limber spears, right long ...
— Tales from the Arabic Volumes 1-3 • John Payne

... woods, stopping to growl at briers, stopping to revive his courage with the Dutch supplement. The stag of ten awaits his foe in a glade. The foe arrives, sees the antlered monarch, and is panic-struck. He watches him prance and strike the ground with his hoofs. He slowly recovers heart, takes a pull at his flask, rests his gun upon a log, and begins to study his mark. The stag will not stand still. Greenhorn is baffled. At last his target turns and carefully exposes that region of ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 10, No. 58, August, 1862 • Various

... fantastick mask, nor dance, But of our kids that frisk and prance; Nor wars are seen Unless upon the green Two harmless lambs are butting one the other, Which done, both bleating run, each to his mother And wounds are never found, Save what the plough-share ...
— The Complete Angler • Izaak Walton

... exhorted him to leave the servants of Christ in peace. Belacius tore the letter, then spit and trampled upon it, and threatened to make the abbot the next victim of his fury; but five days after, as he was riding with Nestorius, governor of Egypt, their horses began to play and prance, and the governor's horse, though otherwise remarkably tame, by {170} justling, threw Belacius from his horse, and by biting his thigh, tore it in such a manner that the general died miserably ...
— The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints - January, February, March • Alban Butler

... happy Day, And Victory over France; And brought them quickly under foot That late in Pride did prance. ...
— Wit and Mirth: or Pills to Purge Melancholy, Vol. 5 of 6 • Various

... gorged with filth, around this senseless block, A swarm of spider-bards obsequious flock: While his demure Welch goat, with lifted hoof, In Poet's corner hangs each flimsy woof; And frisky grown, attempts, with awkward prance, On wit's gay theatre to bleat and dance. Here, seized with iliac passion, mouthing Leech, Too low, alas! for satire's whip to reach, From his black entrails, faction's common sewer, 240 Disgorges all her excremental store. With equal pity and regret ...
— The Poetical Works of Beattie, Blair, and Falconer - With Lives, Critical Dissertations, and Explanatory Notes • Rev. George Gilfillan [Ed.]

... more depraved than Berlin and London; but, whilst the latter hushes up the scandal, Frenchmen do not: hence we see a more copious account of it submitted to the public. For France of the xviith century consult the "Histoire de la Prostitution chez tous les Peuples du Monde," and "La Prance devenue Italienne," a treatise which generally follows"L'Histoire Amoureuse des Gaules" by Bussy, Comte de Rabutin.[FN422] The headquarters of male prostitution were then in the Champ Flory, i.e., Champ de Flore, the privileged rendezvous of low courtesans. In the xviiith ...
— The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 10 • Richard F. Burton

... moreover the advantage of allowing several shots to be fired, which were all taken as parts of the performance. On the mountains of Tierra del Fuego, I have more than once seen a guanaco, on being approached, not only neigh and squeal, but prance and leap about in the most ridiculous manner, apparently in defiance as a challenge. These animals are very easily domesticated, and I have seen some thus kept in Northern Patagonia near a house, though not under any restraint. They are in this state very bold, and readily attack a man by ...
— A Naturalist's Voyage Round the World - The Voyage Of The Beagle • Charles Darwin

... else to say who's right. Us fellers has jest got to creep lively out'n the line of bullets an' let the two men most interested settle that theirselves. Only I don't mind sayin', jest frien'ly like, as it is considered powerful foolish for a man to prance skallyhutin' into a mixup as is apt to smash ...
— Under Handicap - A Novel • Jackson Gregory

... that while Somerset was contenting himself with border raids, instead of espousing the cause of the Castilians, Prance was acting. About the beginning of July a French fleet appeared off St. Andrews; at the end of the month the castle surrendered. English ships might have prevented this, but the Protector elected instead to prepare a great invasion. In September he was over the border, in command ...
— England Under the Tudors • Arthur D. Innes

... frele astat, As he which al was delicat, To knowe thilke experience, The men let come in his presence: And to that on the same tyde, A courser that he scholde ryde Into the feld, anon he bad; Wherof this man was wonder glad, 1190 And goth to prike and prance aboute. That other, whil that he was oute, He leide upon his bedd to slepe: The thridde, which he wolde kepe Withinne his chambre, faire and softe He goth now doun nou up fulofte, Walkende a pass, that he ne slepte, Til ...
— Confessio Amantis - Tales of the Seven Deadly Sins, 1330-1408 A.D. • John Gower

... impolitic to overlook and insincere to belittle the effects of this incoherency upon the relations between France and Italy. Public opinion in the Peninsula characterized the attitude of Prance as deliberately hostile. The Italians at the Conference eagerly scrutinized every act and word of their French colleagues, with a view to discovering grounds for dispelling this view. But the search is reported to have been ...
— The Inside Story Of The Peace Conference • Emile Joseph Dillon

... logging road. Small bushes grew up in the middle of the road. The wheels sank down into deep ruts that had been cut by the tires of the heavy logging wagons, but in general the way was free of obstructions, though the bushes in the road tickled the hide of the young horse until he began to prance from one side of the road to the other in an effort to avoid them. Harriet wanted to suggest to Jasper that he use both hands to drive, but she did not quite like to do so. He undoubtedly would resent her interference, nor could she ...
— The Meadow-Brook Girls Under Canvas • Janet Aldridge

... his pipe did play with such skill, That those who heard him could never keep still: Whenever they heard they began for to dance, Even the pigs on their hind legs would after him prance. ...
— Cole's Funny Picture Book No. 1 • Edward William Cole

... necessary to have it in the furtherance of the one devouring passion. Only when she was quite alone did she ever give way. The doctor thought her wonderfully docile and took heart of hope. A month or two alone with her in Prance and all would be well. In the meantime, patience! Naturally she was full of childish whims. He smiled at her indulgently when she asked him to request Miss Philps to stay outside of the fitting room at Miss Milligan's. "For you know," she said, "it ...
— Up the Hill and Over • Isabel Ecclestone Mackay

... a-way,' whispers Dan Boggs to Cherokee Hall, 'ain't no fool of a word. I'll prance over an' pull it on Red Dog to-morry. Which it's shore ...
— Wolfville Days • Alfred Henry Lewis

... France, for instance, he would write a chanson; In England a six canto quarto tale; In Spain, he'd make a ballad or romance on The last war—much the same in Portugal; In Germany, the Pegasus he 'd prance on Would be old Goethe's (see what says De Stael); In Italy he 'd ape the 'Trecentisti;' In Greece, he sing some sort of hymn like this ...
— Don Juan • Lord Byron

... hairy goat-skin chaparreros underneath, a broad Mexican hat, a pair of monstrous silver spurs, and a very large cigar in his mouth. The girls came out of the cottage doors to look at him, as he made the fiery little beast curvet and prance along the road; and he was evidently not insensible to the looks of admiration of these young ladies, as they muffled up their faces in their blue rebozos and looked at him through ...
— Anahuac • Edward Burnett Tylor

... them as though they were in a fever; after that, one would begin screaming and then another—it was horrible! I, too, would shiver all over like a Jew in a frying-pan, I don't know myself why, and our legs began to prance about. It's a strange thing, indeed: you don't want to, but you prance about and waggle your arms; and after that, screaming and shrieking, we all danced and ran after one another —ran till we dropped; and in that way, in wild frenzy, ...
— The Bishop and Other Stories • Anton Chekhov

... ice. In dense drift it was not a simple matter to steer a correct course for the Hut and it was essential not to deviate, as the rocky foreshores near which it stood extended only for a mile east and west; on either side abutting on vertical ice-cliffs. With a compelling force like a prance at our backs, it was not a nice thing to contemplate finding ourselves on the brink of ...
— The Home of the Blizzard • Douglas Mawson

... digging in the snow. The boys and Betty were here this morning, and we made a grand snow-house, but no one has come back to finish up." Charlotte looked out as she spoke and opened the window a crack to remind Irving that he couldn't prance around on top of the snow-house, because it wasn't strong ...
— Glenloch Girls • Grace M. Remick

... the morning, but their ragged banners too wet with the dews of night to flaunt upon the zephyrs that, newly risen, scarcely move their wings. The foremost riders, gaining the open valley screened by an intervening mountain from the plain of the enemy, prance over it, and companies of horse coming in from different directions join the general rendezvous until, all counted, they may amount to two or three hundred, or as many thousand men. For seldom does ...
— Life of Schamyl - And Narrative of the Circassian War of Independence Against Russia • John Milton Mackie

... little bit in the world," said Lilly. "The way you prance your head, you know, like ...
— Aaron's Rod • D. H. Lawrence

... Stribling, whom she quite frankly hated. But, then, people said that Rose Stribling, twelve years younger than Corinna and as handsome as a Red Cross poster, had run too often across Kent Page in the first year of the war. Kent Page had died in Prance of Spanish influenza before he ever saw a trench or a battlefield; and Rose Stribling, all blue eyes and white linen, had nursed him at the last. At that time Corinna was in America, and she hadn't so much as looked at Kent for years; but a woman has a long memory for emotions, ...
— One Man in His Time • Ellen Glasgow

... sand: Their legs were old burnt matches, Their arms were just the same, They jigged and whirled and scrambled In honor of the dame: The noble Irish lady Who makes potatoes dance, The witty Irish lady, The saucy Irish lady, The laughing Irish lady Who makes potatoes prance. ...
— General William Booth enters into Heaven and other Poems • Vachel Lindsay

... their heels, and some on their toes; but I never saw one dance on all-fours; and, as to the antlers, without them they prance: 'tis because they're all boys, that ...
— The Fairy Nightcaps • Frances Elizabeth Barrow

... news from court; Marke, these things will make you good sport. All the French that lately did prance There, up and downe in bravery, Now are all sent back to France, King Charles hath ...
— Curiosities of Literature, Vol. II (of 3) - Edited, With Memoir And Notes, By His Son, The Earl Of Beaconsfield • Isaac D'Israeli

... shown, very frequent in Shepherd's Inn, Mr. Samuel Huxter, of Clavering. That young fellow, who had poached the walnuts in Clavering Park in his youth, and had seen the baronet drive through the street at home with four horses, and prance up to church with powdered footmen, had an immense respect for his member, and a prodigious delight in making his acquaintance. He introduced himself, with much blushing and trepidation, as a Clavering man—son of Mr. Huxter, of the market-place—father attended ...
— The History of Pendennis, Vol. 2 - His Fortunes and Misfortunes, His Friends and His Greatest Enemy • William Makepeace Thackeray

... atmosphere is exhilarating to the bright, fresh countenances of the youthful party sliding on the ponds and brooks. The river affords amusement for skaters. The jingle of the bells is music sweet and gratifying as the horses prance along with a keen sense of the pleasure they afford to the beautiful ladies encased in costly furs and ...
— Lady Rosamond's Secret - A Romance of Fredericton • Rebecca Agatha Armour

... Nerve Medicine that cost $2.00 a Bottle. Just the same when April hove into view and Dame Nature began to stretch herself, then Mother put on her Short Skirt and a pair of Shoes intended for a Man and did a tall Prance. ...
— People You Know • George Ade

... to make another scene, to prance up and down the room, and talk at the top of his lungs, there is no knowing what may not happen, considering who is ...
— The Hoyden • Mrs. Hungerford

... "Turn, hoop, Burn hoop, Twist and twine Hoop of mine. Flash along, Leap along, Right at the sun. Run, hoop, run. Faster and faster, Whirl, twirl. Wheel like fire, And spin like glass; Fire's no whiter Glass is no brighter. Dance, Prance, Over and over, About and about, With the top of you under, And the bottom at top, But never a stop. Turn about, hoop, to the tap of my stick, I follow behind you To touch and remind you. Burn and glitter, so white and quick, Round and round, to the ...
— Men, Women and Ghosts • Amy Lowell

... of wine, and around their necks were strung on cords many women's finger rings and bracelets. My mother uttered a prayer, because she thought they would help le bon cure, but when they were told he had tried to protect his bell, they jumped over and over him, Monsieur, pretending to prance like horses, and kept sticking him with their spurs until his poor face was cut and swollen. We cried out for shame, but he held up the Crucifix toward us and gently shook his head—so we turned away weeping. But they let us bury ...
— Where the Souls of Men are Calling • Credo Harris

... each other, and the charm said to be possessed by certain animals, was not more powerful than was our mutual gaze. In this manner we had actually passed each other, and I was still in a sort of mystified prance, when I heard suddenly, in a voice and tone that caused every nerve to thrill within ...
— Afloat And Ashore • James Fenimore Cooper

... that we Americans have as yet accomplished; but I am sufficiently familiar with it, thank you, and I find, with age, that only the more untruthful platitudes are endurable. Oh, I predicted for you, at our first meeting, a life without achievements but of gusto! Now, it would appear, you plan to prance among an interminable saturnalia of the domestic virtues. So be it! but I warn you that the house of righteousness is but a wayside inn upon the road to being a ...
— The Cords of Vanity • James Branch Cabell et al

... together, as master and scholler. When he shall be no sooner mounted and planted in the seat with the reins in one hand, a switch in the other, and speaking with his spurres in the horse's flankes, a language he wel understands, but he shall prance, curvet, and dance the canaries[DO] halfe an houre together in compasse of a bushell, and yet still, as he thinkes, get some ground, shaking the goodly plume on his head with a comely pride. This will our Bucephalus do in the lists: ...
— Microcosmography - or, a Piece of the World Discovered; in Essays and Characters • John Earle

... begin to curvet and roll her eyes!" says Mrs. Gunning. "If the parade-ground were full of men I think she would prance over the parapet. At my age she may have some sense and feeling. But I would be glad to see her in the hands of a man who knew how ...
— A British Islander - From "Mackinac And Lake Stories", 1899 • Mary Hartwell Catherwood

... for the grand right an' left!" the big voice wailed. "Swing, rattle and roar!" "Clutch all partners for a once and a half!" "Swing your gals and swing 'em high!" "Prance, scuffle and scrape!" ...
— The Settling of the Sage • Hal G. Evarts

... that the conditions of modern warfare tend to obscure the glory of a general. He can no longer prance about on a horse in front of lines of gaping men, proudly contemptuous of the cannon balls which come bounding across the field of battle from the enemy's artillery. His men are inclined to forget his existence, usually ...
— A Padre in France • George A. Birmingham

... butts of guns, Smoke's party drove back the attacking dogs, while his own dogs, snapping and snarling, awed by so many enemies, shrank in among the legs of their human protectors, and bristled along stiff-legged in menacing prance. ...
— Smoke Bellew • Jack London

... said the Count. "We know the King does not permit his officers to send the Archers of his Guard to prance like paladins by the bridle rein of wandering ladies, unless he hath some politic purpose to serve. It will be difficult for King Louis to continue to aver so boldly that he knew' not of the Ladies of Croye's having escaped from France, ...
— Quentin Durward • Sir Walter Scott

... while she watched them that she heard footsteps that stopped near her. She looked up. A big boy in Highland kilts and bonnet and sporan was standing by her. He spread and curved his red mouth, then began to run and prance round in a circle, capering like a Shetland pony to exhibit at once his friendliness and his prowess. After a minute or two he stopped, ...
— Robin • Frances Hodgson Burnett

... should be such delay. But in truth neither James nor William was desirous that negotiations should speedily commence; for James wished only to gain time sufficient for sending his wife and son into prance; and the position of William became every day more commanding. At length the Prince caused it to be notified to the Commissioners that he would meet them at Hungerford. He probably selected this place because, lying at an equal distance from Salisbury and from Oxford, it was well situated for ...
— The History of England from the Accession of James II. - Volume 2 (of 5) • Thomas Babington Macaulay

... to give them my hoops, corsets, and pretty blue organdie in exchange for their boots and breeches! Only I thought it was dangerous; for suppose the boots had been so used to running that they should prance off with me, too? Why, it would ruin my reputation! Miss Morgan in petticoats is thought to be "as brave as any other man"; but these borrowed articles might make her fly as fast "as any other man," too, if panic is ...
— A Confederate Girl's Diary • Sarah Morgan Dawson

... accomplished cavalier, a perfect centaur in fact, noticing the amazed and somewhat alarmed glances of the Inca's men at the movements of his restless horse, suddenly determined to exhibit his skill at the manege. Striking spurs to his charger, he caused him to curvet and prance in the open before the Inca, showing at the same time {78} his own horsemanship and the fiery impetuosity of the high-spirited animal. He concluded this performance—shall I say circus?—by dashing at full speed toward the Inca, reining in his steed with the utmost ...
— South American Fights and Fighters - And Other Tales of Adventure • Cyrus Townsend Brady

... the devil, stand still! You prance and shy as if Satan himself had stuck a dart in you! Hey, there!—Back, back, you limb! Will the Barin ...
— The Black Cross • Olive M. Briggs

... simply have to kick and dance! I cannot help but gaily prance! Somehow I feel it in my toes Whenever ...
— The Adventures of Johnny Chuck • Thornton W. Burgess

... demand, and so horses are trained for this purpose. They are trained on purpose for out-door sparking. It is not an uncommon thing to see a young fellow drive up to the house where his girl lives with a team that is just tearing things. They prance, and champ the bit, and the young man seems to pull on them as though his liver was coming out. The horses will hardly stand still long enough for the girl to get in, and then they start off and seem to split the air wide open, and the ...
— Peck's Compendium of Fun • George W. Peck

... unheeded down her cheeks. The sight of her, dumb, shaking, weeping—roused the other girls to uncontrollable mirth, and the louder they laughed, the more did Eunice weep; the more violently did they gesticulate and prance about the room, the closer did she hug her bedpost, the ...
— More About Peggy • Mrs G. de Horne Vaizey

... won I was to get the prize but I had small hope of winning. When I saw one after another prance out, in sparkling silver harness adorned with rosettes of ribbon—light stepping, beautiful creatures all of them—I could see nothing but defeat for us. Indeed I could see we had been too confident. I dreaded the moment when Uncle Eb should drive down with Black Hawk in a plain ...
— Eben Holden - A Tale of the North Country • Irving Bacheller

... those who had arrested him—"come and do homage to the Emperor of Mimes, King of Caperers, and Grand Duke of the Dark Hours, and explain by what right thou art so presumptuous as to prance and jingle, and wear out shoe leather, within his dominions without paying him tribute. Know'st thou not thou hast incurred the pains ...
— The Fair Maid of Perth • Sir Walter Scott

... the rugged prance By which his freezing feet he warms, And drag my lady's chains, and dance, ...
— The Book of Humorous Verse • Various

... the poet gets his chance, When even wingless Pegasi will prance; Yet We, whose pinions oft outsoared the crow's, Have hitherto confined Ourself to prose. But who shall doubt that We could sing as well as That Warrior-bard TYRTAEUS, late of Hellas, Who woke the Spartans up with words ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 147, September 30, 1914 • Various

... this war is against the interests of France and yet he undertakes it.[12133] Later, at St. Helena, he falls into a melting mood over "the French people whom he loved so dearly."[12134] The truth is, he loves it as a rider loves his horse; as he makes it rear and prance and show off its paces, when he flatters and caresses it; it is not for the advantage of the animal but for his own purposes, on account of its usefulness to him; to be spurred on until exhausted, to jump ditches growing wider and ...
— The Origins of Contemporary France, Volume 5 (of 6) - The Modern Regime, Volume 1 (of 2)(Napoleon I.) • Hippolyte A. Taine

... upon a bag of inflammable gas. As a matter of course, he tendered his services to the old lady first, who, though she had been whipped in and out of as many ships as any English dragoon-horse during the war of the Peninsula, thought proper to curvet and prance, and show as much skittishness as a mule embarking at Hartford, or Weathersfield, or Middletown, for a tour of duty at Surinam or Demerara. She was, however, hoisted in without accident, and received on deck ...
— An Old Sailor's Yarns • Nathaniel Ames

... and the Tuscan train, In marshalled squadrons, to the walls draw near, Steeds neigh, and chafe, and prance upon the plain, And lances bristling o'er the field appear. Messapus, too, and Latium's hosts are here, Coras, Catillus, and Camilla leads Her troops to aid. All couch the levelled spear, And whirl the dart. ...
— The Aeneid of Virgil - Translated into English Verse by E. Fairfax Taylor • Virgil

... ribbons to match, and he knew color, too, perfectly well. For instance, if we offered him a blue or a red ribbon, he would not be quiet long enough to have it tied on; but show him a yellow one, and he would prance across the room, and not only stand still to have it put on, but purr and evince the greatest pride ...
— Concerning Cats - My Own and Some Others • Helen M. Winslow

... for the President to ride. When the time came, Mr. Lincoln walked up to the animal, and the instant he seized the bridle to mount, it was evident to horsemen that he 'knew his business.' He had the animal in hand at once. No sooner was he in the saddle than the coal-black steed began to prance and whirl and dance as if he was proud of his burden. But the President sat as unconcerned and fixed to the saddle as if he and the horse were one. The test of endurance soon came. McClellan, with his magnificent staff, approached the President, who joined them, and away they ...
— The Every-day Life of Abraham Lincoln • Francis Fisher Browne

... stand it to see things going wrong. He's done more to make this town quiet and peaceable than any man in it. I've seen him lick four Greasers in eleven minutes, myself. If a thing wanted regulating, he warn't a man to go browsing around after somebody to do it, but he would prance in and regulate it himself. He warn't a Catholic. Scasely. He was down on 'em. His word was, 'No Irish need apply!' But it didn't make no difference about that when it came down to what a man's rights was—and so, when some roughs ...
— Innocents abroad • Mark Twain

... we must kalkilate what Rosey is, and what Rosey wants. P'raps, ye allow, YOU know what Rosey is? P'raps you've seen her prance round in velvet bonnets and white satin slippers, and sich. P'raps you've seen her readin' tracks and v'yages, without waitin' to spell a word, or catch her breath. But that ain't the Rosey ez I know. It's a little child ez uster crawl in and out the tail-board of a Mizzouri wagon on the alcali ...
— By Shore and Sedge • Bret Harte

... done this, than the runaway steed began to prance, and kicked up his heels as before. But Tom was on guard, and try his best, the horse could not dislodge ...
— The Rover Boys on the Plains - The Mystery of Red Rock Ranch • Arthur Winfield

... when they promenade in night-caps and gowns to rifle the plump stockings, the little 'dears' will utter an 'Oh!' of pleasure, and give a prance of satisfaction, as they pull out this small ...
— Aunt Jo's Scrap-Bag • Louisa M. Alcott

... it pleasant to present the scene with some elaboration. He dropped the handle of the freezer, rose, assumed a stately, but ingratiating, expression, and "stepped up" to the imagined couple, using a pacing and rhythmic gait—a conservative prance, which plainly indicated the simultaneous operation of an orchestra. Then bending graciously, as though the persons addressed were of dwarfish stature, "'Scuse me," he said, "but kin I please be so p'lite as to 'quiah you' name?" For a moment he listened attentively, then ...
— Seventeen - A Tale Of Youth And Summer Time And The Baxter Family Especially William • Booth Tarkington

... English and all that they profess. Cursed be the Savages that prance in nakedness!' 'Amen,' quo' Jobson, 'but where I used to lie Was neither shirt nor pantaloons to catch ...
— A Diversity of Creatures • Rudyard Kipling

... warrior, whom I had always greatly admired, because he appeared to have so much life in him, even when he was but a statue, now rode gently towards us, bowing low before my mother. But I knew by the fire in his eyes, and the restrained prance of his spirited horse, that he would some time perform brave deeds. When we entered my silver room, the beautiful ivory mother bent and kissed her child, who leaped with joy into life. A little girl, on a gazelle, bounded ...
— The Magician's Show Box and Other Stories • Lydia Maria Child

... song we're singing on the shining roads of France; Hear the Tommies cheering, and see the Poilus prance; Africanders and Kanucks and Scots without their pants— While we are canning ...
— Jimmie Higgins • Upton Sinclair

... horses named were facing a ridge some few hundred yards distant, and their heads were aloft and ears straight forward. Sage King whistled shrilly and Sarchedon began to prance. ...
— Wildfire • Zane Grey

... home. Architects make the plan, and the mechanics execute it; the house to cost one hundred thousand dollars. It is done. The carpets are spread, lights are hoisted, curtains are hung, cards of invitation sent out. The horses in gold-plated harness prance at the gate; guests come in and take their places; the flute sounds; the dancers go up and down; and with one grand whirl the wealth and the fashion and the mirth of the great town ...
— The Wedding Ring - A Series of Discourses for Husbands and Wives and Those - Contemplating Matrimony • T. De Witt Talmage

... may so put it, where, like a battleship, his armor did not run, and he was soft and vulnerable as any other beast. Moreover, he had not trained himself in the art of throwing himself upon his back, as the owl, who was like a cat in this particular also, had apparently done, and since he could not prance on his hindlegs, unicorn-fashion, forever, he had to come down again, belly and throat first, on that infernal ...
— The Way of the Wild • F. St. Mars



Words linked to "Prance" :   tittup, move, riding, sashay, horseback riding, go, cock, strut, swagger, ride horseback, travel, sit, ruffle, gait, prancer



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