contrabass
Americannoun
-
(in any family of instruments) the member below the bass.
-
(in the violin family) the double bass.
adjective
noun
-
a member of any of various families of musical instruments that is lower in pitch than the bass
-
another name for double bass
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of contrabass
From Italian, dating back to 1590–1600; see origin at contrabasso
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.
It was a deep, rolling, glorious contrabass; once described as the sound that "Moses heard when addressed by God."
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2024
Rozenfeld, whose bald-shaved head was covered with a flat cap, moved to the rhythm while playing the contrabass.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 1, 2022
Like the booming foghorn sound that represents the hell beast in “Hellbound,” Lowe dropped a deep contrabass note in his front title.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 24, 2022
Chase stood with her towering contrabass flute against the backdrop of a projected film landscape, by Ailbhe Ni Bhriain, of an Irish bog — a site, Cleare says, of rich industrial and geological history.
From New York Times ● Dec. 13, 2021
Contra — Means lower: for example a contrabassoon sounds lower than a regular bassoon43 , and a contrabass clarinet is even lower than a bass clarinet.
From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones
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