honky-tonk
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hon·ky-tonk
(hông′kē-tôngk′, hŏng′kē-tŏngk′)n.
A cheap, noisy bar or dance hall.
adj.
1. Of or relating to such a bar or dance hall; tawdry: a honky-tonk district; honky-tonk entertainers.
2. Of, relating to, or being a type of ragtime characteristically played on a tinny-sounding piano or in a honky-tonk.
intr.v. hon·ky-tonked, hon·ky-tonk·ing, hon·ky-tonks
To visit cheap, noisy bars or dance halls.
[Perhaps from honk.]
honky-tonk
(ˈhɒŋkɪˌtɒŋk)n
1. slang
a. a cheap disreputable nightclub, bar, etc
b. (as modifier): a honky-tonk district.
2. (Jazz) a style of ragtime piano-playing, esp on a tinny-sounding piano
3. (Music, other) a type of country music, usually performed by a small band with electric and steel guitars
4. (Music, other) (as modifier): honky-tonk music.
[C19: rhyming compound based on honk]
honk•y-tonk
(ˈhɒŋ kiˌtɒŋk, ˈhɔŋ kiˌtɔŋk)n., adj., v. -tonked, -tonk•ing. n.
1. a cheap, noisy, garish nightclub or dance hall.
adj. 2. of or characteristic of a honky-tonk.
3. characterized by honky-tonks: the honky-tonk part of town.
4. of or pertaining to ragtime music played on a tinny-sounding upright piano.
v.i. 5. to visit honky-tonks.
Also, honk′y-tonk`y.[1890–95, orig. uncertain]
honky-tonk
- May come from the New England dialect word honk, "to idle about," and is a rhyming duplication.See also related terms for idleness.
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