dancer

be half the (something) (one) used to be

To lose some of one's skill in a particular area. This phrase can also be applied derisively to men who appear to have lost their virility, especially after marriage. After years away from the sport, she's half the swimmer she used to be—I doubt she'll place in the upcoming meet. A: "Can you believe that Joe is out shopping with his wife right now, instead of watching the game with us?" B: "Ever since he got married, he's half the man he used to be."
See also: half, used

erotic dancer

Someone who dances seductively for an audience while wearing little or no clothing. Please tell me you didn't go see erotic dancers during your bachelor party.
See also: dancer

exotic dancer

Someone who dances seductively for an audience while wearing little or no clothing. Please tell me you didn't go see exotic dancers during your bachelor party.
See also: dancer, exotic

gandy dancer

old-fashioned A worker in a railway gang who lays and maintains railroad tracks. My granddaddy worked as a gandy dancer building the first stretch of railroads across the state.
See also: dancer

grave-dancer

One who delights in or benefits from someone else's death or misfortune. I'm sure Laura's thrilled that my venture failed—I know she's secretly a grave-dancer.

lap dancer

Someone, typically a woman, who dances exotically while straddling and rubbing against a customer's lap. John's friends took him to a strip club and paid a lap dancer to give him a private session for his birthday. My parents don't approve of her working as a lap dancer, but she's earning enough to pay her way through college.
See also: dancer, lap

pole dancer

A dancer who uses a vertical pole fixed to the ground and ceiling as part of their dance routine, often by twirling and swinging around it. Though traditionally performed as erotic entertainment while nude or partially clothed, such dancing is also done for fitness or fun. I know my parents wouldn't have approved if they knew I was working as a pole dancer to pay for college, so I just told them I was waiting tables. If you're really interested in becoming a pole dancer, I teach classes at the gym.
See also: dancer, pole
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

erotic dancer

n. a dancer, typically female, who performs teasing and sexually stimulating dances, usually on a stage. She was a school teacher by day and an erotic dancer by night.
See also: dancer

grave-dancer

n. someone who profits from or takes advantage of someone else’s misfortune. (From dance on someone’s grave, seemingly in celebration of someone else’s misfortune.) I don’t want to seem like a grave-dancer, but his defeat places me in line for a promotion.

lap dancer

n. an exotic dancer who writhes and rubs her posterior on the lap of a seated customer. Most of us lap dancers follow rules about no touching.
See also: dancer, lap

pole dancer

n. a woman, thought of as a stripper, who performs erotic dances around a metal pole, onstage, exploiting the pole’s phallic form. Jed swears that he has never seen an inept pole dancer.
See also: dancer, pole
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • be half the (something) (one) used to be
  • made in China
  • better luck next time
  • big woman on campus
  • campus
  • big man on campus
  • flyover
  • flyover country
  • flyover states
  • beck and call
References in classic literature
Suddenly a door opened, the draught caught up the little Dancer, and off she flew like a sylph to the Tin-soldier in the stove, burst into flames--and that was the end of her!
Yellow Fairy Book
She heard the trampling and swinging of the dancers behind her, and the rhythmic sway of the waltz music.
When they came to the windows of the ballroom, the swing of the dancers and the lilt of the music was irresistible.
"Have you seen those wonderful Russian dancers?" began Mrs.
In the ballroom, meanwhile, the dancers were being formed into squares for the lancers.
She remembered that the general effect of the music to which they had danced so gaily was one of passionate regret for dead love and the innocent years of youth; dreadful sorrows had always separated the dancers from their past happiness.
Elliot, they gallopaded round and round the room with such impetuosity that the other dancers shivered at their approach.
Instantly a gigantic circle was formed, the dancers holding hands and shouting out, "D'you ken John Peel," as they swung faster and faster and faster, until the strain was too great, and one link of the chain-- Mrs.
The dancers came crowding to the windows, pushed them open, and here and there ventured a foot upon the grass.
From John Peel she passed to Bach, who was at this time the subject of her intense enthusiasm, and one by one some of the younger dancers came in from the garden and sat upon the deserted gilt chairs round the piano, the room being now so clear that they turned out the lights.
The Voyage Out
Curving her arms, Natasha held out her skirts as dancers do, ran back a few steps, turned, cut a caper, brought her little feet sharply together, and made some steps on the very tips of her toes.
War and Peace
Lola Montes, a dancer, became the morganatic wife of King Louis of Bavaria and was created Countess of Landsfeld.
Theresa Hessier, a dancer, married Dom Fernando, brother to the King of Portugal.
Phantom of the Opera
But Maggie was off, darting her zig-zag way through the maze of dancers. She burst through the rear door into the dark hall and then threw her solid shoulder against the door of the room of single combat.
The Four Million
With the Canadian invasion of Cirque du Soleil and Celine Dion, more and more dancers are placing their bets on Las Vegas with the hopes of big money, glamour, and a lifestyle that may be what every dancer dreams of--stability.
Beyond the strip: navigating the Las Vegas job scene