poussette

noun

1. A movement, or part of a figure, in the contradance.

   “But, now, the Bird of Paradise was seen to flutter down the middle; and the little bells began to bounce and jingle in poussette; and the Doctor's rosy face spun round and round, like an expressive peg-top highly varnished; and breathless Mr. Craggs began to doubt already, whether country dancing had been made 'too easy,' like the rest of life; and Mr. Snitchey, with his nimble cuts and capers, footed it for Self and Craggs, and half-a-dozen more.”

2. A method of cheating in card games, whereby a player surreptitiously changes his or her stake after the cards are dealt.

verb

1. (intransitive)To waltz around each other, as two couples do in a contra dance.

   “Came wet-shod alder from the wave, / Came yews, a dismal coterie; / Each pluck'd his one foot from the grave, / Poussetting with a sloe-tree: […]”