barrel organ

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noun

a musical instrument in which air from a bellows is admitted to a set of pipes by means of pins inserted into a revolving barrel; hand organ.

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Origin of barrel organ

First recorded in 1765–75

Words nearby barrel organ

barrelfish, barrelful, barrelhead, barrelhouse, barrel knot, barrel organ, barrel race, barrel roll, barrel roof, barrel vault, barren

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use barrel organ in a sentence

At that dread moment, a ministrel from the sunny south, with barrel-organ, leapt on Dover beach!
The History of the Catnach Press|Charles Hindley
Yes, and if you don't instantly pay the hire, I'll strike up a symphonia on this little barrel organ here.
The Castle of Andalusia|John O'Keeffe
We had Mr. Feeder, clipped to the stubble, grinding out his classic stops like a barrel-organ of erudition.
Charles Dickens as a Reader|Charles Kent
His business was to wale dismal, and bow his head down, the band (a barrel organ and a wiolin) playin slow and melancholly moosic.
The Complete Works of Artemus Ward|Charles Farrar Browne (AKA Artemus Ward)

The other end of the line was a small square box, which was furnished with four handles, similar to that of a barrel organ.
Jack Harkaway and His Son's Escape From the Brigand's of Greece|Bracebridge Hemyng

British Dictionary definitions for barrel organ

barrel organ

noun

an instrument consisting of a cylinder turned by a handle and having pins on it that interrupt the air flow to certain pipes, thereby playing any of a number of tunesSee also hurdy-gurdy

a similar instrument in which the projections on a rotating barrel pluck a set of strings

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