A 16th-cent. sword dance related to the morris dance, performed by dancers in extravagant costume and representing a fight or duel.

a dance in which the performers go through some evolutions with swords, or in which a person dances among naked swords laid on the ground; also figur…

a sword dance, esp. of a type performed in north-east England.

South African. Also califa, chalifah, kalifa. A Malay sword-dance which originally had religious significance. Also attributive.

A kind of sword-dance. rare.

= rapier dance n.