bal·let

[ba-ley, bal-ey]
noun
1.
a classical dance form demanding grace and precision and employing formalized steps and gestures set in intricate, flowing patterns to create expression through movement.
2.
a theatrical entertainment in which ballet dancing and music, often with scenery and costumes, combine to tell a story, establish an emotional atmosphere, etc.
3.
an interlude of ballet in an operatic performance.
4.
a company of ballet dancers.
5.
the musical score for a ballet: the brilliant ballets of Tchaikovsky.
6.
a dance or balletlike performance: an ice-skating ballet.

Origin:
1660–70; < French, Middle French < Italian balletto, equivalent to ball(o) ball2 + -etto -et

bal·let·ic [ba-let-ik, buh-] , adjective
bal·let·i·cal·ly, adverb

ballad, ballet, ballot.
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00:10
Ballet is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
Collins
World English Dictionary
ballet (ˈbæleɪ, bæˈleɪ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
1.  a.  a classical style of expressive dancing based on precise conventional steps with gestures and movements of grace and fluidity
 b.  (as modifier): ballet dancer
2.  a theatrical representation of a story or theme performed to music by ballet dancers
3.  a troupe of ballet dancers
4.  a piece of music written for a ballet
 
[C17: from French, from Italian balletto literally: a little dance, from ballare to dance; see ball²]
 
balletic
 
adj

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

ballet
1660s, from Fr. ballette from It. balletto, dim. of ballo "a dance" (see ball (2)).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary

ballet definition


Theatrical entertainment in which dancers, usually accompanied by music, tell a story or express a mood through their movements. The technique of ballet is elaborate and requires many years of training. Two classical ballets are Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, composed by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Two great modern ballets are The Rite of Spring, composed by Igor Stravinsky, and Fancy Free, by Leonard Bernstein.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Example sentences
Neither of us would, even under the threat of being pilloried, attend a
  performance of the ballet.
They soar in great circles, dozens of birds wheeling together in an aerial
  ballet.
One event features a synchronized demonstration known as kite ballet.
Currently the little rogue is taking ballet lessons and swim lessons.
Images for Ballet
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