fife
noun
a high-pitched transverse flute used commonly in military and marching musical groups.
fife
1 American
[fahyf]
/ faɪf /
noun
verb (used with or without object)
-
fifes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
fifed,
past participle, past
-
fifing
present participle
Fife
2
American
[fahyf]
/ faɪf /
noun
-
Also called Fifeshire. a historic county in E Scotland.
-
a region in E Scotland. 504 sq. mi. (1,305 sq. km).
fife
1
British
/ faɪf /
noun
verb
Fife
2
British
/ faɪf /
noun
Fife
3
British
/ faɪf /
noun
fife
Cultural
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
fifesimple
-
fifessimple
-
have fifedperfect
-
has fifedperfect
-
am fifingprogressive
-
are fifingprogressive
-
is fifingprogressive
-
have been fifingperfect progressive
-
has been fifingperfect progressive
Past
-
fifedsimple
-
had fifedperfect
-
was fifingprogressive
-
were fifingprogressive
-
had been fifingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of fife
1540–50; < German Pfeife pipe 1
Explanation
A fife is a musical instrument that looks like a very small flute. Fifes are usually made of wood, rather than metal, and are common in military marching bands. A fife is much more high-pitched than a flute—it's also louder and more shrill sounding. It was a popular instrument in some of the folk music in medieval Europe, and especially during the Colonial period in America, when it was played more than violins or pianos. Because it's so portable and relatively loud for its size, the fife became widely used in military and marching bands starting during the Renaissance period.
Vocabulary lists containing fife
Music to My Ears: Instrumental Vocab
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Musical Instruments - Introductory
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Musical Instruments - Middle School
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
Items up for big include a private fife lesson with the resident fifer on the premises, table linens, getaways to other historically-minded spots, toy soldiers, golf packages, china, books — well, you get the idea.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 20, 2022
There was a “Spirit of ’76”—three men with fife and drum.
From Slate ● Jun. 20, 2020
Here camp and its covert campaign of subversion feel wonderfully urgent and necessary: the gap-toothed fife player in the march toward “nonbinary.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2019
As the man struck a martial tattoo on his drum, another man in period costume began playing a fife and leading Heather’s class in circles outside George Washington’s iconic white-columned home.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 4, 2017
Through the window, Nat heard a fife shrilling and the thud of a drum.
From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham
The first minister updated parliament on his plans for a pilot scheme in Tayside, Fife and Central during a Scottish Parliament debate on tackling violence against women.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
Fife Council has said finding reasonably priced housing in St Andrews is a "major challenge" and has put in measures such as quotas of affordable housing in new developments to try and help.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
The vehicle was driven a short distance from being picked up in Rosyth, Fife, to the home of Murrell's mother in Dunfermline, where it was parked until being seized by officers.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
The committee resolved Fife Cook had failed to treat others with courtesy and respect and had brought the council into disrepute.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
His real name is King Bartholomew Archibald Reginald Fife, a fine, kingly name—a name with a great destiny, of course.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
Then the “sounds of Nazi marches with fifes and drums came through the radio.”
From Slate ● Jan. 26, 2025
His supporters, some dressed as American Revolution-era patriots and playing fifes, were thrilled by Ramaswamy’s turn in the spotlight Wednesday night.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2023
You heard the muffled drums and the fifes that played lowly.
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 6, 2017
Although it is not staffed by guides, if you press a button on the porch, a comprehensive account of the building’s history plays to the tune of fifes and drums.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 21, 2016
There was a bang of drums and a shrill of fifes.
From "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury
Unlike the buccaneers, who had fired high to cripple their enemies above decks, the French fifed low to smash the hull of their assailant.
From Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini
He let himself be drummed and fifed home by the town militia towards evening.
From Flower, Fruit, and Thorn Pieces; or, the Wedded Life, Death, and Marriage of Firmian Stanislaus Siebenkaes, Parish Advocate in the Burgh of Kuhschnappel. by Jean Paul
So I was, and I voted for him, drummed for him, fifed and blowed; that was no reason for my thinking him the best man we had for the office.
From The Humors of Falconbridge A Collection of Humorous and Every Day Scenes by Falconbridge
A drum corps was organized, if that could be said to be organized in which every member drummed or fifed independently of all others.
The city fathers have decked out some of Boston's sons in Revolutionary costumes and sent them roaming through the streets fifing and drumming.
From Time Magazine Archive
O nimble fifing Jack, And drummer making din So deftly on the skin, With thy rat-tattooing.
From The Humorous Poetry of the English Language; from Chaucer to Saxe by James Parton
Now they had prepared a little fleet to pass over to the Fourth of July celebration, which some queer drumming and fifing, from, the opposite bank, had announced to be "on hand."
From At Home And Abroad Or, Things And Thoughts In America and Europe by Arthur B. Fuller
Youths and maidens, garlanded and gayly raimented, go about fifing and piping, and trolling the chosen songs of spring.
From The God of Love by Justin H. (Justin Huntly) McCarthy
Up from the East river come the 130 sounds of orderly drummers drumming, of regimental fifers fifing.
From The Only Woman in the Town And Other Tales of the American Revolution by Sarah J. Prichard
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.
