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
He graduated with highest honors from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and until 2011 sang contrabass with the chorus of the Atlanta Opera.
From New York Times ● Aug. 6, 2021
I’m going to program my left hand as the accompanying strings, plus brass, tuba, and contrabass.
From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2020
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
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
