- a dance for couples, esp. in the late 1930s and early 1940s, involving fast, acrobatic movements to swing music
- Informal a dancer of the jitterbug
Origin of jitterbugjitter + bug
intransitive verb-·bugged·, -·bug·ging
to dance the jitterbug
- A strenuous dance performed to quick-tempo swing or jazz music and consisting of various two-step patterns embellished with twirls and sometimes acrobatic maneuvers.
- One who performs this dance.
intransitive verbjit·ter·bugged, jit·ter·bug·ging, jit·ter·bugs
To perform this dance.
Origin of jitterbugFrom jitterbug heavy drinker who suffers from the jitters from jitter
(third-person singular simple present jitterbugs, present participle jitterbugging, simple past and past participle jitterbugged)
- To dance the jitterbug.