hand organ
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of hand organ
An Americanism dating back to 1790–1800
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.
Another time he appeared in Chester town square, bishop's gaiters & all, grinding a hand organ to help raise money for the Royal Infirmary.
From Time Magazine Archive
A hand organ outside was droning the "Miserere."
From The Best Short Stories of 1919 and the Yearbook of the American Short Story by O'Brien, Edward J. (Edward Joseph Harrington)
Cassi had come to the town some twenty years before with a hand organ and a monkey.
From The Blood of the Conquerors by Fergusson, Harvey
On an opposite corner a hand organ played an Italian song.
From Madge Morton's Victory by Chalmers, Amy D. V.
It carromed into corner number two, smashing one perfectly good hand organ, freeing an excited monkey, and drawing forth a volley of lurid words from the Italian.
From Owen Clancy's Happy Trail or, The Motor Wizard in California by Standish, Burt L.
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.
