Meaning & use
conga line
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Meanings
nouncountable
A dance in which people form a line, each holding the waist or shoulders of the person in front, and move together in a steady rhythm.
Grammar: Countable: join a conga line.
Patterns
- join a conga line
- form a conga line
Guests formed a conga line around the wedding hall.
The kids led a conga line through the kitchen.
Everyone joined the conga line when the music started.
nouncountableinformalfigurative
Any long line of people or things moving closely one after another.
Grammar: Informal, figurative use: a conga line of cars.
Patterns
- a conga line of something
A conga line of tourists followed the guide.
A conga line of trucks crept up the hill.
A conga line of ducklings trailed the mother.
Word forms
| plural | conga lines |
|---|
Common combinations
- form a conga line
- The party guests formed a conga line across the lawn.
- join the conga line
- Come on, join the conga line!
- lead the conga line
- My uncle always leads the conga line at weddings.
- snake through
- The conga line snaked through the crowded room.
- conga line of
- A conga line of cars left the stadium.
Synonyms and how they differ
- procession
- A procession is a formal, orderly line of people moving in a ceremony, but a conga line is playful and dance-based.
- queue
- Queue is a line of people waiting, whereas a conga line is moving and dancing.
- chain
- Chain suggests people linked together, but it does not imply music or dancing.
Word family
- conga noun
- a tall drum, or the Cuban dance named after it
- congas noun
- a pair of tall drums played by hand
- conga drum noun
- a tall, narrow Cuban drum
Commonly confused: conga line or conger?
conga line vs conger
A conger is a type of eel, and it sounds similar to conga but is unrelated.
Practice
At the party, everyone ___ a conga line and danced through the garden.
Choose one answer.
You join a conga line by taking your place in it; attend and observe do not fit that action, and argued has nothing to do with dancing.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “conga line”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.