clarinet

American  

[klar-uh-net] / ˌklær əˈnɛt /

noun

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

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clarinet British  

/ 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

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clarinet Cultural  

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.

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Discover More

The most famous American clarinetist was Benny Goodman.

Other Word Forms

• clarinetist noun
• clarinettist noun

Etymology

Origin of clarinet

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

Example Sentences

Later in the record, a growling bass clarinet on “I Need You” makes the jazzy beat sound dangerous, like slow exhalations from a sleeping dragon.

From The Wall Street Journal

The score is a tone poem for cascading piano, string quartet and sighing clarinet lines.

From Los Angeles Times

"If you know an artist has that background in singing, or in clarinet, or in a orchestral instrument, it feels like there's a bit more validity to it."

From BBC

In fact, this may be one reason why Brahms’ only solo music for viola was an alternate version he made of his two clarinet sonatas composed near the end of his life.

From Los Angeles Times

We find Louis Armstrong in a louder moment, his body and his trumpet framed by the long bell of a neighbor’s clarinet, his head thrown back in rollicking laughter.

From The Wall Street Journal