cavort
Valid in Scrabble
- Scrabble points
- 11
- Words With Friends
- 13
- Letters
- 6
See all 3 pronunciations Show less
Definition of cavort
3 senses · 1 part of speech · etymology included
verb
-
To prance, frolic, gambol.
“[…] when the young man whirled his horse, “hazed” Jupiter in circles and belaboured him with a rawhide quirt, […] He ceased his cavortings […]”
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verb
-
To prance, frolic, gambol.
“[…] when the young man whirled his horse, “hazed” Jupiter in circles and belaboured him with a rawhide quirt, […] He ceased his cavortings […]”
-
(intransitive)To move about carelessly, playfully or boisterously.
“And dragon-flies sported around and cavorted, / As poets say dragon-flies ought to do; […]”
“He whirligigged and pirouetted, dancing and cavorting round like an inebriated ape.”
“[…]and soon a high-spirited snowball fight was being waged by dozens of happy, hyperkinetic boys cavorting in dungarees and T-shirts, in sweatsuits, in pajamas, even some in only underwear.”
“They descended by the tens of thousands on Britain’s southern beaches and jammed into city parks. They cavorted by the hundreds in streams.”
“[…] while a woman in a bright red coat cavorts through a crosswalk with what appears to be an impeccably groomed Afghan hound.”
-
(informal)To engage in extravagant pursuits, especially of a sexual nature.
“As he moves back into the shadows, the stage is taken over by a troupe of Pan-like dancers, leaping and cavorting in an obscene ballet.”
“We can't even write stories about moguls like Rupert Murdoch or Barry Diller unless it involves photographs of them cavorting with young flesh.”
Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.
Etymology
Originated in the United States in 1793, as cauvaut, applying to horses, probably from the colloquial intensifying prefix ca-/ka- + vault (“jump, leap”); later generalized. Early sources connect it to cavault, a term for a certain demeanor of horses. Alternatively, a variation of curvet.
Words you can make from cavort
45 playable · top: VAC (8 pts)
Best play vac 8 points5-letter words
2 words4-letter words
12 words3-letter words
25 words2-letter words
5 wordsHooks
1 extension · 1 back
A single letter you can add to cavort to make another valid word.
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