piccolo
Americannoun
-
piccolos
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of piccolo
1855–60; < Italian: literally, small
Explanation
Many orchestras include a piccolo, which is a small, high-pitched flute. The word piccolo is in the fairly extensive group of Italian words that designate musical instruments and other musical terms. A piccolo is a small flute that plays an octave higher than an ordinary one; the word comes, appropriately enough, from the Italian for "small," which is also piccolo.
Vocabulary lists containing piccolo
Music to My Ears: Instrumental Vocab
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2015 Spelling Bee - Words from Round 2
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Musical Instruments - Introductory
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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:
She holds her head high whether playing piccolo or the 6-foot contrabass flute, as if her instrument were a magic wand used to activate her voice in the highest registers and the deepest.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2025
Being selected is a testament to every band member who came before, said Claire Rhyu, a flute and piccolo player, and she’s still in disbelief.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 24, 2023
His father’s cousin, he said, played the saxophone and introduced him to the instrument; Mr. Press later added flute, clarinet, piccolo and others to his arsenal.
From New York Times ● Oct. 28, 2022
Linda Lacey, 73, was excited to see the large turnout, mainly because her 14-year-old granddaughter, who starts at the high school Monday, was playing piccolo in the band before Biden spoke.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 25, 2022
In a 1981 study, Griswold & Chroback found that the harp, flute, and piccolo had high feminine ratings; the trumpet, string bass, and tuba had high masculine ratings.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
More often, Ms. Frank deploys an unusual combination of instruments, such as piccolos and celesta, or a motif—like the short, repeated pulse that sounds like a cry—to create a dreamscape that is all her own.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026
Band members received new uniforms, new drums and, most recently, new flutes and piccolos, all of it paid for by the district’s budget for the arts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2024
The orchestra reacts: The piccolos go wild, and the percussionists clash their cymbals and clap their whips.
From New York Times ● Apr. 28, 2022
Acoustic instruments, piccolos and flutes replaced electric bass and guitars.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 29, 2018
This time two more piccolos and a flute joined in and three more rays of light danced lightly into view.
From "The Phantom Tollbooth" by Norton Juster
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.
