See Also: polonaise(dictionary)
polonaise(encyclopedia)
Broccoli Polonaise(recipes)
gasp(medicine)
gasp(1)(dictionary)
gasp(2)(dictionary)
gasp 1, verb(dictionary)
gasp 2, noun(dictionary)

gasp(2) (iou) and polonaise (sh)


gasp(2) (iou)



gasp verb. [g¨»:sp] LME.
[Old Norse geispa yawn, (with metathesis) from base of geip idle talk, geipa talk idly.]
verb intrans. Catch the breath with open mouth, as from exhaustion or astonishment. LME.
G. Swift She was gasping, her chest heaving, long jagged breaths came from her throat.
verb trans. Utter with gasps. (Foll. by out.) L16.
verb intrans. Pant or strain for air; fig. crave or long for. L16.
H. E. Bates Alex was quivering terribly all over as he gasped for his catarrh-choked breath.
Phrases: gasp one's breath away, gasp one's breath out, gasp one's last, gasp one's life away, gasp one's life out die.
gasper noun (a) a person who gasps; (b) slang a (cheap) cigarette: M19.
gaspingly adverb in a gasping manner E19.

polonaise (sh)




Dignified ceremonial Dance in 34 time, frequently employing dotted rhythms, that often opened court balls in the 17th-19th century.

It likely began as a warrior's triumphal Dance and had been adopted by the Polish court as a formal march as early as 1573. The dancers promenaded with gliding steps accented by bending the knee slightly on every third step. It often appeared in ballets, and it was used as a musical form by composers such as George Frideric Handel, Ludwig van Beethoven, and especially Frederic Chopin, whose piano polonaises were martial and heroic.