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• organ grinder
  organ grinder

  noun

  an itinerant street musician who earns a living by playing a hand organ or hurdy-gurdy.
• organ-grinder
  organ-grinder

  noun

  a street musician playing a hand organ for money

organ grinder

American  

noun

1. an itinerant street musician who earns a living by playing a hand organ or hurdy-gurdy.

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organ-grinder British  

noun

1. a street musician playing a hand organ for money

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Etymology

Origin of organ grinder

First recorded in 1800–10

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

organ grinder organ-grinder

He rates a podcaster below “movies, TV, recording artist, radio personality, mime and organ grinder monkey.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2024

Bach was in many ways a glorified organ grinder, cranking out music to support his 20 children.

From Slate ● Oct. 25, 2018

There are memories, too -- the triptych “Beginnings” is a personal compendium of defining childhood influences -- an organ grinder, an upside-down Puss in Boots, a globe showing America and an art-loving uncle.

From BusinessWeek ● Dec. 9, 2011

They hit upon the idea of singing to raise cash, but that sparks the wrath of the town’s greedy organ grinder, Brundibar.

From New York Times ● Mar. 25, 1466

“We’ll say we saw an organ grinder with a monkey,” suggested Boris.

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood

“We didn’t allow ourselves to think that. The prevailing attitude was, We’re organ-grinder monkeys. Message be damned, our main focus was the finding the shortest route to the funniest joke.”

From The New Yorker ● Sep. 26, 2016

She met an organ-grinder and salesmen with various tourist trinkets, and then she stopped at a stall selling Soviet memorabilia – all these fur hats with stars and figures of Stalin.

From The Guardian ● Jan. 11, 2016

So you still think of Verdi as a purveyor of organ-grinder accompaniments?

From Chicago Tribune ● Apr. 17, 2011

He wrote in his autobiography: I must have been about 10 when a street organ-grinder with a monkey blew into town.

From New York Times ● Aug. 2, 2010

The monkeys that are used in laboratories are not organ-grinder monkeys.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston