aeolian harp

American  

noun

1. a box with an opening across which are stretched a number of strings of equal length that are tuned in unison and sounded by the wind.

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aeolian harp British  

noun

1. Also called: wind harp.  a stringed instrument that produces a musical sound when a current of air or wind passes over the strings

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Etymology

Origin of aeolian harp

First recorded in 1785–95

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

aeolian harp

"But how could there be an aeolian harp up here?" said Arctura.

From Donal Grant, by George MacDonald by George MacDonald

Frances Ridley Havergal had an aeolian harp sent to her which she tried to play with her fingers, and failed.

From And Judas Iscariot Together with other evangelistic addresses by J. Wilbur Chapman

And now you suggest it, I think the sounds we hear are not unlike those of an aeolian harp!

From Donal Grant, by George MacDonald by George MacDonald

These unseen effusions are the conversation of thought with itself the arpeggios involuntary but not unconscious, of that aeolian harp we bear within us.

From Amiel's Journal by Mrs. Humphry Ward

Here he would sit near her hour after hour; sometimes mending her aeolian harp while they talked together, sometimes reading aloud to the assembled company.

From Authors and Friends by Annie Fields