xylophone

American  

[zahy-luh-fohn] / ˈzaɪ ləˌfoʊn /

noun

• xylophones
  plural

1. a musical instrument consisting of a graduated series of wooden bars, usually sounded by striking with small wooden hammers.

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xylophone British  

/ ˈzaɪləˌfəʊn, ˌzaɪləˈfɒnɪk, zaɪˈlɒfənɪst /

noun

1. music a percussion instrument consisting of a set of wooden bars of graduated length. It is played with hard-headed hammers

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• xylophonist
  noun
• xylophonic
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• xylophones
  plural

Etymology

Origin of xylophone

First recorded in 1865–70; xylo- + -phone

Compare meaning

How does xylophone compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• vibraphone vs. xylophone
• glockenspiel vs. xylophone

Explanation

A xylophone is a long musical instrument with wooden bars that is played by hitting it with small, hammer-like mallets. The xylophone produces bright, sharp tones when stuck with these hard-headed mallets. The xylo- part of this word comes from the Greek for wood — xylon — and clues us in to what gives this instrument its unique sound: the graduated bars representing tones of the scale. A related word in English is xylem, the tissue that forms the woody part of plants. The phone part means "a sound" in Greek. If your instrument has metal bars instead of wooden ones, it is more likely to be a glockenspiel, not a xylophone.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

xylophone xylophones

At St. Anne School in Santa Monica, I watched Cummins harness the squirmy energy of second-graders wielding xylophone mallets.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 21, 2026

He holds small mallets in his “hands” to play a kind of xylophone called a marimba.

From NewsForKids.net ● Apr. 1, 2024

The article paints a scene of company employees striking a metal xylophone and applauding as they jubilantly gaslight their customers.

From Slate ● Jul. 31, 2023

Their collaboration, “Odyssey,” finds common ground in synthesizer-centered 1980s pop, specifically Talking Heads’ 1980 “Once in a Lifetime” plus a lot of marimba or xylophone overdubs.

From New York Times ● Jun. 23, 2023

I wanted a music career, and so I wanted to learn about the organ and xylophone and become a fully prepared musician.

From "March Forward, Girl" by Melba Pattillo Beals

I wish it sounded like tinkling bells and xylophones.

From Salon ● Jun. 8, 2026

These instruments tend to be bells, gongs, types of xylophones and other kinds of pitched percussion instruments.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 27, 2024

Six school employees converge in the elementary school music room, where tambourines and xylophones hang from the wall.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 5, 2023

To some observers, the two businesses may seem to be anachronisms — one offering plastic yodeling pickles and xylophones, the other borscht and kielbasa — and out of step with the times.

From New York Times ● Dec. 11, 2020

It sounded like a hundred xylophones inside a stone tomb.

From "Winger" by Andrew Smith