clarinet

[klar-uh-net]

noun

1. a woodwind instrument in the form of a cylindrical tube with a single reed attached to its mouthpiece.

clarinet

/ ˌklærɪˈnɛt /

noun

1. Obsolete name: clarionet. a keyed woodwind instrument with a cylindrical bore and a single reed. It is a transposing instrument, most commonly pitched in A or B flat

2. an orchestral musician who plays the clarinet

clarinet

1. A woodwind instrument, usually made of black wood or plastic, and played with a single reed. The clarinet has extensive use in Dixieland, jazz, and military music, as well as in classical music.

The most famous American clarinetist was Benny Goodman.

Other Word Forms

• clarinettist noun
• clarinetist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of clarinet¹

1790–1800; < French clarinette, equivalent to Old French clarin clarion + -ette -ette

Word History and Origins

Origin of clarinet¹

C18: from French clarinette, probably from Italian clarinetto, from clarino trumpet

Example Sentences

A whisp of a canorous clarinet or a rumbling rattle is all it takes for a kind of instant transport to a far-off time and place.

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“I needed somebody that could play the trumpet and then someone to play clarinet for the polkas,” he says.

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In 1964, the album Shakespeare and All That Jazz, recorded with her husband on clarinet and saxophone, was released to critical acclaim.

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“And I thought that by injecting some of that high clarinet, the muted trombones and the piano groove, I would take the audience back to that era without playing jazz.”

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That theme — later orchestrated with a buzzing hive of strings, solo clarinet, piano and percussion — became the soul of the whole score.

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