barrel organ
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.
Origin of barrel organ
1Words Nearby barrel organ
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
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 HindleyYes, 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'KeeffeWe had Mr. Feeder, clipped to the stubble, grinding out his classic stops like a barrel-organ of erudition.
Charles Dickens as a Reader | Charles KentHis 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
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 tunes: See 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
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