sheet music

American  

noun

1. music printed on unbound sheets of paper.

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sheet music British  

noun

1. the printed or written copy of a short composition or piece, esp in the form of unbound leaves

2. music in its written or printed form

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Etymology

Origin of sheet music

First recorded in 1855–60

Example Sentences

Imogene, who was moon-faced and not good-looking, worked her hands and opened her sheet music.

From Literature

There was no sheet music, and if there had been, I wouldn’t have been able to see it because there were no bulbs in the piano lamp.

From Literature

Leah proudly recalled “Rochester Knockings” souvenirs, such as spoons, pins, cups, and sheet music, being sold in the streets of New York City.

From Literature

She taught him to read sheet music and urged him to learn jazz.

From Los Angeles Times

In the home, a rich family might have one of the new phonographs that played music stored on wax cylinders, but most families were still making their own music, using sheet music or songbooks.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• songbook