Noun

(en noun)

A classical form of dance.

A theatrical presentation of such dancing, usually with music, sometimes in the form of a story.

The company of persons who perform this dance.

(music) A light part song, or madrigal, with a fa-la burden or chorus, most common with the Elizabethan madrigal composers.

(heraldry) A bearing in coats of arms representing one or more balls, called bezants, plates, etc., according to colour.

(Webster 1913)

Noun

(en noun)

* Tylor

[He] saw a pantomime perform so well that he could follow the performance from the action alone.

(historical) The drama in ancient Greece and Rome featuring such performers; or (later) any of various kinds of performance modelled on such work.

(UK) A traditional theatrical entertainment, originally based on the commedia dell'arte, but later aimed mostly at children and involving physical comedy, topical jokes, and fairy-tale plots.

Gesturing without speaking; dumb-show, mime.

* 1851 ,

A staid, steadfast man, whose life for the most part was a telling pantomime of action, and not a tame chapter of sounds.

* 1994 , Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom , Abacus 2010, p. 26:

In pantomime , Chief Joyi would fling his spear and creep along the veld as he narrated the victories and defeats.

* {{quote-news, year=2011

, date=October 20 , author=Michael da Silva , title=Stoke 3 - 0 Macc Tel-Aviv , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=With the Stoke supporters jeering Ziv's every subsequent touch, the pantomime atmosphere created by the home crowd reached a crescendo when Ziv was shown a straight red shortly after the break in extraordinary circumstances.}}