musical glasses

plural noun

1. a set of drinking glasses filled with varying amounts of water to produce ringing tones of different pitches when the player's finger is rubbed around the wet rims.

musical glasses

plural noun

1. another term for glass harmonica

Word History and Origins

Origin of musical glasses¹

First recorded in 1760–70

Example Sentences

But a lot of culture passed through town: military bands; the Ski-U-Mah Quartette; the Maharas Minstrels; the Schubert Symphony Club; the Casgrove Company performing with musical glasses, sleigh bells, mandolins and banjos; and itinerant theatrical events, from “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” to the Jolly Della Pringle Company.

Read more on New York Times

“The top of mine to the foot of yours,—the foot of yours to the top of mine,—Ring once, ring twice,—the best tune on the Musical Glasses! Your health. May you live a thousand years, and never be a worse judge of the right sort than you are at the present moment of your life!”

Read more on Literature

When he heard Edward Delaval perform on the musical glasses, he was charmed.

Read more on Washington Post

He experimented to improve its form and found a solution that allowed the performer to create “a much fuller sound than the musical glasses had previously allowed,” Mead writes.

Read more on Washington Post

With other innovations, his new invention “improved the musical glasses, and formed them into a compleat instrument to accompany the voice; capable of a thorough bass, and never out of tune,” according to the Bristol Journal in 1762.

Read more on Washington Post