fife
noun
a high-pitched transverse flute used commonly in military and marching musical groups.
fifing
-
present participleof fife.present participle
A verb form that is used in progressive verb constructions and may also function as a modifier or a gerund.
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.
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
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
The night is rendered hideous, and sleep well-nigh impossible, by the drumming, fifing, and shouting of the revellers, kept up till break of day.
From Life and Work in Benares and Kumaon, 1839-1877 by James Kennedy
During the last night we had been kept awake by the drumming and fifing, singing and shouting, weeping and howling, pulling at accordions and striking the monotonous Shingungo.
From Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo Volume 2 by Sir Richard Francis Burton
In the foreground is the “Portsmouth Fly,” with officers inside, taking their ease, and a number of soldiers occupying a precarious perch on the roof, fifing and drumming, regardless of jolts and lurches.
From The Portsmouth Road and Its Tributaries To-Day and in Days of Old by Charles G. (Charles George) Harper
