hurdy-gurdy

[ hur-dee-gur-dee, -gur- ]

/ ˈhɜr diˈgɜr di, -ˌgɜr- /

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noun, plural hur·dy-gur·dies.

a barrel organ or similar musical instrument played by turning a crank.

a lute- or guitar-shaped stringed musical instrument sounded by the revolution against the strings of a rosined wheel turned by a crank.

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Origin of hurdy-gurdy

1740–50; variant of Scots hirdy-girdy uproar, influencedby hurly-burly

OTHER WORDS FROM hurdy-gurdy

hurdy-gurdist, hur·dy-gur·dy·ist, noun

Words nearby hurdy-gurdy

Hurd, hurdies, hurdle, hurdle rate, hurds, hurdy-gurdy, hurl, Hurler syndrome, hurley, hurling, hurly

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use hurdy-gurdy in a sentence

Tonio will take to the hurdy-gurdy again; him an' Puck should win money too.
Two Little Travellers|Frances Browne Arthur
The old Italian organ-grinder doing his best to please you with his wheezy hurdy-gurdy is not just an old organ-grinder.
Sex=The Unknown Quantity|Ali Nomad
Pisistratus, by the help of Latin comprehending that the Savoyard says that the mice are alive, and the hurdy-gurdy is not.
The Caxtons, Complete|Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Am I then come into Spain to hear hum-strums and hurdy-gurdies?
Italy; with sketches of Spain and Portugal|William Beckford

My uncle sold a watch, and I played on the hurdy-gurdy, by way of making myself popular.
The Chainbearer|J. Fenimore Cooper

British Dictionary definitions for hurdy-gurdy

hurdy-gurdy

/ (ˈhɜːdɪˈɡɜːdɪ) /

noun plural -dies

any mechanical musical instrument, such as a barrel organ

a medieval instrument shaped like a viol in which a rosined wheel rotated by a handle sounds the strings

Word Origin for hurdy-gurdy

C18: rhyming compound, probably of imitative origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012