flute

American  

[floot] / flut /

noun

• flutes
  plural

1. a musical wind instrument consisting of a tube with a series of fingerholes or keys, in which the wind is directed against a sharp edge, either directly, as in the modern transverse flute, or through a flue, as in the recorder.

2. an organ stop with wide flue pipes, having a flutelike tone.

3. Architecture, Furniture. a channel, groove, or furrow, as on the shaft of a column.

4. any groove or furrow, as in a ruffle of cloth or on a piecrust.

5. one of the helical grooves of a twist drill.

6. a slender, footed wineglass of the 17th century, having a tall, conical bowl.

7. a similar stemmed glass, used especially for champagne.

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verb (used without object)

• flutes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• fluted,
  past participle,  past
• fluting
  present participle

1. to produce flutelike sounds.

2. to play on a flute.

3. (of a metal strip or sheet) to kink or break in bending.

verb (used with object)

• flutes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• fluted,
  past participle,  past
• fluting
  present participle

1. to utter in flutelike tones.

2. to form longitudinal flutes or furrows in.

   to flute a piecrust.

flute British  

/ fluːt /

noun

1. a wind instrument consisting of an open cylindrical tube of wood or metal having holes in the side stopped either by the fingers or by pads controlled by keys. The breath is directed across a mouth hole cut in the side, causing the air in the tube to vibrate. Range: about three octaves upwards from middle C

2. any pipe blown directly on the principle of a flue pipe, either by means of a mouth hole or through a fipple

3. architect a rounded shallow concave groove on the shaft of a column, pilaster, etc

4. a groove or furrow in cloth, etc

5. a tall narrow wineglass

6. anything shaped like a flute

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verb

1. to produce or utter (sounds) in the manner or tone of a flute

2. (tr) to make grooves or furrows in

flute Cultural  

1. A high-pitched woodwind, held horizontally by the player and played by blowing across a hole.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• flutelike
  adjective
• fluty
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• flutes
  plural

Participles

• fluting
  present
• fluted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• flute
  simple
• flutes
  simple
• have fluted
  perfect
• has fluted
  perfect
• am fluting
  progressive
• are fluting
  progressive
• is fluting
  progressive
• have been fluting
  perfect progressive
• has been fluting
  perfect progressive

Past

• fluted
  simple
• had fluted
  perfect
• was fluting
  progressive
• were fluting
  progressive
• had been fluting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will flute
  simple
• will have fluted
  perfect
• will be fluting
  progressive
• will have been fluting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of flute

1350–1400; Middle English floute < Middle French flaüte, flahute, fleüte < Old Provençal flaüt (perhaps alteration of flaujol, flauja ) < Vulgar Latin *flabeolum. See flageolet, lute ¹

Explanation

A flute is a thin woodwind instrument: you blow into it and put your fingers over the holes to make music. There are many types of instruments, such as percussion, brass, and woodwind. One of the most popular woodwind instruments is the flute, which is thin and makes high-pitched sounds. The flute looks like a thin tube or pipe with a hole on each end and holes on the body: your fingers go up and down over the holes and you blow into the flute to make music. The word flute can also mean a groove in a column; fluted columns are common in classical Greek architecture.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

flute flutes fluted fluting

One woman whips out a flute to play a song from KPop Demon Hunters.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

Another cut overseen by Robertson for “Beautiful Noise,” this one with Dr. John on organ and Jerome Richardson on flute.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026

She teaches flute at five universities in Iowa as an adjunct professor and performs in three orchestras.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026

Or if you ever were a young girl who wanted to pick the drums when it came time to choose an instrument for band, and were instead encouraged to play something like the flute.

From Salon ● Apr. 28, 2026

Ophie carried a tray of champagne flutes very carefully, holding the silver tray with both hands as the Carutherses’ various cousins each took a flute, exclaiming over having champagne.

From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland

As Sunday night turned into Monday morning, and the strains of fiddles and flutes drifted through the city streets, people hailed the success of Belfast's first ever All-Ireland Fleadh.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

As passengers sipped flutes of Champagne for hours on the triple-decker yacht, they played games of “Guess Who?” customized with the faces of AI legends.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 20, 2025

There was a woodwind virtuoso, Pedro Eustache, making wild and beautiful sounds in an isolated booth with his arsenal of flutes — and out on the stage there was a real, live theremin.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2025

"We served Lambrini in our little flutes but we only really had regulars turn up," she said.

From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2025

Guests would bring their flutes or violins and, as each member of the family sang or played an instrument, we made quite an orchestra gathered around the upright piano in Tante Jans’s front room.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

“Classical Body,” which pairs Attic vases and flasks with a series of fluted Grecian gowns elevated above—super-model goddesses in pale gold—sets the aspirational yet unforgiving female physical ideal.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 9, 2026

Custom kitchens designed by Christopher Peacock are encased in wood and fluted glass cabinetry with 2-inch-thick Calacatta marble on the kitchen islands.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 30, 2026

But a couple of special items caught my eye at the prepping station — specifically, rows of elegantly fluted scallop shells.

From Salon ● Nov. 1, 2025

The building’s fluted Corinthian columns are right at home in neoclassical Washington, but they aren’t a match with the rest of the White House, with its simpler, smooth columns and Ionic capitals.

From Slate ● Aug. 5, 2025

She got up irritably and walked away, toward the swimming pool pavilion, an open structure supported by three fluted pillars.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan

Press one stack of the rectangles into each well of the muffin pan, folding or fluting the edges slightly to make an attractive cup.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 29, 2023

For Honoré, personally, parietal art includes paintings and engravings made on rock, but would exclude markings like finger fluting or the Quesang prints, and some other archaeologists hold the same view.

From Scientific American ● Sep. 21, 2021

In detailing the enormity of the Olympieion’s scale, Diodorus wrote that the fluting of the outer columns was big enough for a man to stand inside.

From New York Times ● Oct. 5, 2020

Mirianashvili opted for a standard drinking glass, the kind with fluting at the base and a wide band near the rim.

From The New Yorker ● Apr. 22, 2019

I heard all the words and instruments, complete with stereo highs and bass lows to “My Girl,” fluting out of his long but happy face.

From "P.S. Be Eleven" by Rita Williams-Garcia

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