jazzes up
noun
1.
music originating in New Orleans around the beginning of the 20th century and subsequently developing through various increasingly complex styles, generally marked by intricate, propulsive rhythms, polyphonic ensemble playing, improvisatory, virtuosic solos, melodic freedom, and a harmonic idiom ranging from simple diatonicism through chromaticism to atonality.
2.
a style of dance music, popular especially in the 1920s, arranged for a large band and marked by some of the features of jazz.
3.
dancing or a dance performed to such music, as with violent bodily motions and gestures.
4.
Slang. liveliness; spirit; excitement.
5.
Slang. insincere, exaggerated, or pretentious talk: Don't give me any of that jazz about your great job!
adjective
7.
of, pertaining to, or characteristic of jazz.
00:10
Jazzes up
is always a great word to know.
So is gobo. 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. |
verb (used with object)
8.
to play (music) in the manner of jazz.
9.
Informal.
a.
to excite or enliven.
b.
to accelerate.
10.
Slang: Vulgar. to copulate with.
verb (used without object)
Verb phrases 11.
to dance to jazz music.
12.
to play or perform jazz music.
13.
Informal. to act or proceed with great energy or liveliness.
14.
Slang: Vulgar. to copulate.
15.
jazz up, Informal.
a.
to add liveliness, vigor, or excitement to.
b.
to add ornamentation, color, or extra features to, in order to increase appeal or interest; embellish.
c.
to accelerate.
Origin:
1905–10, Americanism; 1915–20 for def 5; origin uncertain
1905–10, Americanism; 1915–20 for def 5; origin uncertain
Related forms
jazz·er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To jazzes up
Collins
World English Dictionary
jazz (dʒæz) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a. Compare blues bebop bop Dixieland free hard bop harmolodics mainstream modern jazz New Orleans jazz swing See also trad a kind of music of African-American origin, characterized by syncopated rhythms, solo and group improvisation, and a variety of harmonic idioms and instrumental techniques. It exists in a number of styles |
| b. (as modifier): a jazz band | |
| c. (in combination): a jazzman | |
| 2. | informal enthusiasm or liveliness |
| 3. | slang rigmarole; paraphernalia: legal papers and all that jazz |
| 4. | slang, obsolete (African-American) sexual intercourse |
| 5. | slang (South African) a dance |
| —vb | |
| 6. | (intr) to play or dance to jazz music |
| 7. | slang, obsolete (African-American) to have sexual intercourse with (a person) |
| [C20: of unknown origin] | |
| 'jazzer | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
jazz
by 1912, Amer.Eng., first attested in baseball slang; as a type of music, attested from 1913. Probably ult. from Creole patois jass "strenuous activity," especially "sexual intercourse" but also used of Congo dances, from jasm (1860) "energy, drive," of African origin (cf. Mandingo jasi, Temne yas),
also the source of slang jism.
"If the truth were known about the origin of the word 'Jazz' it would never be mentioned in polite society." ["Étude," Sept. 1924]The verb meaning "to speed or liven up" is from 1917; all that jazz "et cetera" first recorded 1939; Jazzercise is 1977, originally a proprietary name. Jazz Age first attested 1922 in writings of F. Scott Fitzgerald, usually regarded as the years between the end of World War I (1918) and the Stock Market crash of 1929.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary
jazz definition
A form of American music that grew out of African-Americans' musical traditions at the beginning of the twentieth century. Jazz is generally considered a major contribution of the United States to the world of music. It quickly became a form of dance music, incorporating a “big beat” and solos by individual musicians. For many years, all jazz was improvised and taught orally, and even today jazz solos are often improvised. Over the years, the small groups of the original jazz players evolved into the “Big Bands” (led, for example, by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Glenn Miller), and finally into concert ensembles. Other famous jazz musicians include Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, and Ella Fitzgerald.
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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Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Nearby Words
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