background music
Americannoun
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music, often recorded, intended to provide a soothing background, usually played over loudspeaker systems in public places, as railway stations or restaurants.
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music composed specifically to accompany and heighten the mood of a visual production, as a movie.
Etymology
Origin of background music
First recorded in 1925–30
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Background music plays and a deep-voiced announcer says: “The legacy of the Great Communicator continues on News Radio 1040 WHO.”
From Washington Post • Mar. 15, 2016
Background music is provided by chirping birds and by “chimes” made of hubcaps and tailpipes.
From New York Times • Jun. 14, 2015
Background music combined African chant and Vivaldi's "Four Seasons."
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 25, 2014
Background music to breakfast is a new protest CD against the scheme.
From BBC • Aug. 4, 2013
Use in a TV show or film: Background music on EastEnders, say, falls under the broadcaster's blanket licence and would cost a few hundred pounds.
From The Guardian • Jul. 15, 2013
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
