First recorded in 1585–95; perhaps jocular; earlier called Jew's trump
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It sounds something like a Jew’s harp, but much louder.
From Slate • Sep. 30, 2018
He is a harmless enough fellow, Parker by name, a garroter by trade, and a remarkable performer upon the Jew's harp.
From The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir
Gellie Duncan, the musician of the party, tripped on before, playing on her Jew's harp, and singing, "Cummer, go ye before, Cummer, go ye; Gif ye will not go before, Cummer, let me!"
From Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions — Volume 2 by Mackay, Charles
He carries a Jew's harp and a mouth-organ, and when not fingering one he is blowing music-hall tunes out of the other.
From The Red Horizon by MacGill, Patrick
When he arrived at the spring of Lisnayan in the town of Ībōwan he rested and he sat on the high stone and began to play the bamboo Jew's harp and Īgōwan saw him.
From Traditions of the Tinguian: a Study in Philippine Folk-Lore by Cole, Fay-Cooper
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.
