英和和英

名詞

Barnaby (uncountable)

1. (archaic) A lively and fast-paced dance; (by extension) any quick and uneven movement.
   • 1640-1687, Charles Cotton, in his burlesque of Virgil:

     Bounce cry the port-holes, out they fly
     And make the world dance Barnaby.

   • 1985, Gregory Sass, Redcoat, page 28:

     It was a regular Barnaby dance; I'd never seen anyone move so quickly. Before the culprit bolted out the door into the night,

   • 1996, Jo Ann Ferguson, Miss Charity's Case, page 182:

     "Owell gave me this. Said to get it to you in a Barnaby dance. 'Ere it is." His tongue scraped across his lower lip as he stared at Charity.

   • 2009, Julia Golding, The Diamond of Drury Lane, page 434:

     We were now doing a strange sort of Barnaby dance: shuffling to and fro as I blocked his attempts to set off in pursuit.