hornpipe
Americannoun
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an English folk clarinet having one ox horn concealing the reed and another forming the bell.
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a lively jiglike dance, originally to music played on a hornpipe, performed usually by one person, and traditionally a favorite of sailors.
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a piece of music for or in the style of such a dance.
noun
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an obsolete reed instrument with a mouthpiece made of horn
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an old British solo dance to a hornpipe accompaniment, traditionally performed by sailors
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a piece of music for such a dance
Etymology
Origin of hornpipe
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.
“This here is a hornpipe called ‘The Blackbird,’” he explains.
From New York Times • Nov. 8, 2019
Photograph: Allstar Prithee, avert thine brain, for this Canadian-Irish production does dance a merry hornpipe upon the very phizog of historical accuracy.
From The Guardian • Jun. 14, 2013
"He was jigging along to the sailors' hornpipe," added Margaret Fowkes, from Coventry.
From The Guardian • Jun. 4, 2012
But what’s most irresistible is the way he rapidly transfers weight from one foot to another and back, side to side, in a little hornpipe.
From New York Times • Jun. 9, 2010
“Tant pis, the ceiling is a little low. One brisk hornpipe and we’d all be bashed stupid.”
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
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.
