bass viol

[ beys ]

noun
  1. viola da gamba.

Origin of bass viol

1
First recorded in 1580–90

Words Nearby bass viol

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use bass viol in a sentence

  • I doubt if you can play the Dead March on a bass-viol, and I'm morally certain you can't play it and walk with it too.

    Wandering Heath | Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
  • Pillsbury played the bass viol, and once a week or so he and Penny got together and spent an entranced hour.

    Left Tackle Thayer | Ralph Henry Barbour
  • At the sound of the bass viol the bull stood still, raised his head, and glowered at the extraordinary object before him.

  • The use of instruments had crept slowly into the choir, and if they had a flute and a bass viol they considered they did well.

    The Old Furniture Book | N. Hudson Moore
  • One Sunday I can well mind—a bass viol day that time, and Yeobright had brought his own.

    Return of the Native | Thomas Hardy

British Dictionary definitions for bass viol

bass viol

/ (beɪs) /


noun
  1. another name for viola da gamba

  2. US a less common name for double bass (def. 1)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for bass viol

bass viol

[ (veye-uhl) ]


The largest and lowest-pitched instrument of the strings, also called a bass fiddle or double bass. The player must stand or sit on a tall stool to play it.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.