Also called Fifeshire. a historic county in E Scotland.
a region in E Scotland. 504 sq. mi. (1,305 sq. km).
1540–50; < German Pfeife pipe 1
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.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Death to My Hometown” carried a faint whiff of Revolutionary War cosplay as several E Streeters temporarily became a miniature fife and drum corps.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2024
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
When Daudet is unsuccessful in discovering the source of an old proverb, a fife player advises him to seek it in “the cicadas’ library,” meaning a field where one lies on one’s back and contemplates.
From New York Times ● Jul. 1, 2021
A fife and drum corps perform at King and Market streets before the parade passes through.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 30, 2021
Beyond that, he heard the tap-tapping of the drum, the nagging, relentless curl of the fife.
From "The Fighting Ground" by Avi
The Mid Scotland & Fife MSP criticised the "casual" and "ignorant" manner in which Lowe spoke about the tragedy.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
And on Wednesday about 50 people from Edinburgh, Falkirk, Fife, the Borders and beyond gathered outside the Scottish Parliament to protest data centre plans across the country.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
What stories would you like BBC News to cover from Edinburgh, Fife and the east of Scotland?
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
In May 2021 the then MP for Dunfermline and West Fife, Douglas Champman, quit as national treasurer of the party after he claimed he was not given enough information to do the job.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
Capt. Draper offered a small Sustenance & Pay for the Boy’s excellent Music, could he rally us upon the Fife.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
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
Mindy Rosenfeld and Ronn McFarlane will perform a concert of Renaissance, baroque and traditional Celtic music on flutes, fifes, harp and bagpipe.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 25, 2013
Drums beat and fifes blew and beneath everything was the steady clockwork blast of the British cannons firing at the troops stationed north of us.
From "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson
A drum corps was organized, if that could be said to be organized in which every member drummed or fifed independently of all others.
From The Story of the Raising and Organization of a Regiment of Volunteers in 1862 Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, Commandery of the District of Columbia, War Papers 46 by Spear, Ellis
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
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 Sabatini, Rafael
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
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 Kennedy, James
Farms were rather scattered in that neighborhood, but occasionally they passed country homes, when all the folks would rush forth to learn what the drumming and fifing meant.
From The Rover Boys in Camp or, The Rivals of Pine Island by Stratemeyer, Edward
Orioles, to be sure, after a month of silence, again have fits of merry fifing.
From The Foot-path Way by Torrey, Bradford
On the left flank of the little column I kept very easily in touch because of this same silly drumming and fifing.
From The Little Red Foot by Chambers, Robert W. (Robert William)
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.
