Meanings
plural dabkes · alternative dabka · alternative dabkah · alternative dabkeh · alternative dabki · alternative debka
- uncountableusuallyA folk dance of the Levant.
My wife is Jordanian and has family who have lived and worked in Dubai and Abu Dhabi for years. During our time in the U.A.E., we ate with them, drank arak, watched them dance the dabke late into the evening.
2026 March 16, Richard Florida, “Could This Be the End of Dubai?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
Origin
- South Levantine Arabicدَبْكة
- North Levantine Arabicدَبْكة
- Englishdabke
Borrowed from North Levantine Arabic دَبْكة (dabka) and South Levantine Arabic دَبْكة (dabke).
More words from North Levantine Arabic, South Levantine Arabic
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
dabke. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dabke
“dabke.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dabke. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dabke,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dabke.
Source: dabke on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.