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
fife
2
British
/ faɪf /
noun
verb
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
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Musical Instruments - Introductory
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Musical Instruments - Middle School
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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
Oh bang the drum slowly and play the fife lowly .
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
Now 47 and living in Dunfermline, Fife, Kevin says his prized possession was one that brought together his two sporting loves.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
It spent most of its working life based at Dundee Tay Bridge Steam Shed 62B, operating on services in Angus and Fife.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
Ben Stuart, director of residential and business services at the University of St Andrews, highlighted its annual £480m contribution to Scotland's economy, supporting 9,000 jobs in the Fife and Tayside area.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
This will increase the overall supply but John Mills, head of housing for Fife Council, also pointed out that 30% of the homes on these sites would be affordable housing.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 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
Look for fifes and drums, decorated automobiles, tractor-pulled floats, marching dance teams and pageant winners.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 29, 2022
You heard the muffled drums and the fifes that played lowly.
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 6, 2017
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
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.
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
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
However, he soon sank back on his throne again, and after a little more drumming and fifing, everything reverted to its state of wooden repose.
From The Serapion Brethren, Vol. I. by Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann
By-and-by, while I was yet sobbing and disconsolate, I heard the drumming and fifing which heralded the appearance of the Corps Dramatique on the outer platform.
From In the Days of My Youth by Amelia Ann Blanford Edwards
In these drumming and fifing times the babies suck in quarrel with their mother’s milk.
From Southern Literature From 1579-1895 A comprehensive review, with copious extracts and criticisms for the use of schools and the general reader by Louise Manly
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