breakdancing

noun

break·danc·ing ˈbrāk-ˌdan(t)-siŋ

variants or break dancing or less commonly break-dancing

: a style of hip-hop dance in which soloists perform acrobatic moves that often involve touching various parts of the body (such as the back or head) to the ground

Breakdancing takes incredible athleticism and energy, but it's also personal and highly artistic …—

Jessica Mason

The sweat suit became a B-boy uniform partly because disco gear did not lend itself to the gymnastics of break dancing.—

Tony Karon

The Rock Steady Crew popularized break-dancing in the early 1980s, thanks to troupe member Richard Colón—dubbed "Crazy Legs" for his acrobatic feats.—

Raquel Laneri

With enough space to move, dancers … combine hip-hop and breakdancing moves with their own variations to produce their own unique forms of movement.—

Kevin Griffin

called also breakdance, breaking, B-boying

Examples of breakdancing in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Breaking, or elite breakdancing, is the newest addition to the summer lineup. —

Annette Choi, CNN, 4 Aug. 2024 This way, for instance, Samsung strategically sponsored athletes in surfing, skateboarding and breakdancing. —

Ivan Guzenko, Forbes, 9 Sep. 2024 Yep, this was the height of Raygun Mania, when the entire world seemed to be fixated on Australian Olympian Rachel Gunn, and her hilarious if cringe-worthy routine during Olympic breakdancing. —

Frederick Dreier, Outside Online, 4 Sep. 2024 The guy who pulled off some rudimentary breakdancing won the audience’s vote along with a pair of Kidz Bop pompoms. —

Ross Raihala, Twin Cities, 2 Sep. 2024 Although Tatum wasn't part of the breakdancing event at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, the internet was amused by the skills of at least one competitor in the sport, which was new to the Games this year. —

Raechal Shewfelt, EW.com, 16 Aug. 2024 Snoop also helped bring forth the inaugural breakdancing event to the Olympics. —

Marc Griffin, VIBE.com, 12 Aug. 2024 The men’s breakdancing contest will go down in Paris on Saturday (Aug. 10). —

Michael Saponara, Billboard, 9 Aug. 2024 In fact, everyone involved in competitive breakdancing and the Olympic movement should thank Gunn. —

Frederick Dreier, Outside Online, 4 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

break entry 2 (in sense "solo instrumental passage") + dancing (from dance entry 1 + -ing entry 1); from the performance of acrobatic dances during a cued series of instrumental breaks in pop songs

First Known Use

1980, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of breakdancing was in 1980

See more words from the same year