hand organ
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of hand organ
An Americanism dating back to 1790–1800
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.
Another time he appeared in Chester town square, bishop's gaiters & all, grinding a hand organ to help raise money for the Royal Infirmary.
From Time Magazine Archive
It takes a musical crank to play a hand organ.
From The New Pun Book by Brown, Thomas A.
Not so many years ago he would prefer a red glass ball to the Kohinoor and a hand organ with a monkey to a piano with Paderewski.
From The Circus, and Other Essays and Fugitive Pieces by Kilmer, Joyce
"Does that crank in front make music like a hand organ?"
From Jacko and Jumpo Kinkytail The Funny Monkey Boys by Garis, Howard R.
The damp straw, the old stove, the two men and the hand organ were dragged from the smoking wagon.
From Watch Yourself Go By by Warden, Ben W.
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.
