the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
n. A brisk dance, performed by eight persons; a quadrille.
n. A tune which regulates the dance.
n. A kind of woolen material for women's skirts.
n. A formal ball, especially one at which debutantes are first presented to society.
Word Usage
"It is true she never performed above one or two at most; but what she did, she piqued herself upon executing with a degree of spirit, which made all the operators in cotillon steps, and allemands, 'hide their diminished' heels."