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oompah

American

[oom-pah, oom-] / ˈum pɑ, ˈʊm- /

Also oompah-pah

noun

a repetitious bass accompaniment in music typically provided by brasses.

adjective

marked by an oompah.

oompah band.

oompah British

/ ˈuːmˌpɑː /

noun

a representation of the sound made by a deep brass instrument, esp in military band music

"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

Etymology

Origin of oompah

First recorded in 1875–80; imitative

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.

See Examples For:

oompah

Facing intense criticism was not new for Scotland head coach Steve Clarke when his dejected players left Germany to the sound of a Bavarian oompah band after a deflating Euros campaign in the summer.

From BBC ● Nov. 18, 2024

Revellers sit at long communal tables to swig beer, eat sausages, pretzel or pork knuckle, and listen to oompah bands.

From Reuters ● Apr. 29, 2022

Can he coax an orchestra to support a singer in a deceptively simple aria with a bare oompah accompaniment?

From New York Times ● Apr. 18, 2021

The kitschy exoticism of Fernando and Chiquitita, a marked oompah base for I Have a Dream, and outsized sentimentality for The Winner Takes It All – this is all quintessential schlager.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 8, 2020

On top of this accompanying oompah the rag pianists wove a catchy tune that pulled the rhythm around, a technique called syncopation.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023