turkey trot

noun

A dance popular in the first two decades of the 20th century, consisting of exaggerated bird-like movements performed to fast-paced ragtime music.

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Meanings

nounturkey trot (plural turkey trots)

plural turkey trots · alternative turkey-trot

  1. A dance popular in the first two decades of the 20th century, consisting of exaggerated bird-like movements performed to fast-paced ragtime music.

    Still, music fans who feared that rockabilly might eventually go the way of the turkey trot can take heart.

    1985 Sept. 30, Guy D. Garcia, "People," Time
    1 more example

    From the direction of "The Yellow Lantern" […] arose the strident notes of a tinny piano beating blatantly the measure of a turkey trot.

    1919, Frank L. Packard, chapter 9, in The Further Adventures of Jimmie Dale
  2. USA footrace held on or around Thanksgiving Day.
verbto turkey trot (third-person singular simple present turkey trots, present participle turkey trotting, simple past and past participle turkey trotted)

present singular third person turkey trots · participle present turkey trotting · participle past turkey trotted · past turkey trotted · alternative turkey-trot

  1. To dance a turkey trot.

    The old men on the Exchange play golf all day, and the young ones turkey-trot all night.

    1914, Rex Ellingwood Beach, chapter 4, in The Auction Block
Cite this entry
APA

turkey trot. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/turkey%20trot

MLA

“turkey trot.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/turkey%20trot. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “turkey trot,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/turkey%20trot.

Source: turkey trot on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.