accordion

American  

[uh-kawr-dee-uhn] / əˈkɔr di ən /

noun

Music.

1. Also called piano accordion.  a portable wind instrument having a large bellows for forcing air through small metal reeds, a keyboard for the right hand, and buttons for sounding single bass notes or chords for the left hand.

2. a similar instrument having single-note buttons instead of a keyboard.

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adjective

1. having a fold or folds like the bellows of an accordion.

   accordion roof; accordion panel.

verb (used without object)

1. (of a door, roof, or other covering) to open by folding back or pressing together in the manner of an accordion.

   The roof of the car accordions to let in sunlight and fresh air.

2. to fold, crush together, or collapse in the manner of an accordion.

verb (used with object)

1. to demolish by crushing together lengthwise.

   The impact accordioned the car beneath the truck.

accordion British  

/ əˈkɔːdɪən /

noun

1. a portable box-shaped instrument of the reed organ family, consisting of metallic reeds that are made to vibrate by air from a set of bellows controlled by the player's hands. Notes are produced by means of studlike keys

2. short for piano accordion

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Other Word Forms

• accordionist noun

Etymology

Origin of accordion

1831; < German, now spelling Akkordion, Akkordeon name under which the instrument was patented in Vienna in 1829; probably < French accord ( er ) or Italian accord ( are ) to harmonize ( accord ) + French -ion -ion, as in German Orchestrion orchestrion

Example Sentences

Rocco Commisso didn’t speak English when he arrived in the U.S., but he did play the accordion, a skill that he parlayed into an education.

From The Wall Street Journal

Murals on side streets depict women cooking tortillas on a comal and musicians playing guitar and accordion.

From Los Angeles Times

In one experiment, Adrian North and his colleagues at Leicester University alternated the music in a supermarket between French accordion and German oompah tunes.

From BBC

Then there was the sound of chanson music and accordions and lots of clinking wineglasses as they celebrated.

From Literature

On “Jaundice,” a stomping upbeat jig with accordion and saxophone reflecting Mr. Ellis’s interest in older folk forms, each drum hit bursts out of the speakers.

From The Wall Street Journal