Definition of "hula" []

• A Polynesian dance characterized by undulating hips, miming movements of the arms and hands, and usually accompanied by rhythmic drumbeats and chants. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "John Kaimikaua, a local Kumu Hula who gave me a crash course in hula's role in keeping Hawaii's oral tradition alive."
• ""In hula kahiko," says Noenoelani Zuttermeister, a kumu hula who teaches at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, "a circular lei would be worn on top of the head, whereas in hula 'auana, the dancer may affix flowers to one side of the head.""
• "According to this site, “The word hula became associated with the toy in the early 1800s when British sailors visited the Hawaiian Islands and noted the similarity between ‘hooping’ and hula dancing.”"