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Synonyms

sheet music

American  

noun

  1. music printed on unbound sheets of paper.

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

"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 sheet music

First recorded in 1855–60

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.

Publishing, once a back-office trade of sheet music and radio plugs, became a predictable cash-flow business.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026

Before Armstrong became popular, most people would sing songs strictly as written, following the melody, rhythm and lyrics outlined on the sheet music.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 25, 2026

Growing up in Iowa, he was drawn to the sheet music of Broadway songs on his family piano, and with the help of a great teacher he won a spot at Juilliard.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 15, 2026

The sheet music was kept at his family's music production company - which burnt down in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood last week.

From BBC • Jan. 14, 2025

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 "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

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.