sound hole

American  

noun

1. an opening in the soundboard of a musical stringed instrument, as a violin or lute, for increasing the soundboard's capacity for vibration.

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sound hole British  

noun

1. any of variously shaped apertures in the sounding board of certain stringed instruments, such as the `f' shaped holes of a violin

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Etymology

Origin of sound hole

First recorded in 1605–15

Example Sentences

One of her eyes replaces the instrument’s sound hole — as if to suggest the possibility of a perception synthesized and expanded by love.

From Washington Post • Apr. 22, 2022

Turning the tuning keys gently and slowly while keeping your other hand on the strings, over the sound hole, helps prevent string breakage.

From New York Times • May 15, 2020

They took an upright piano and laid it on its back so the sound hole, a small hole that exposes the strings, was upright.

From The Verge • Nov. 8, 2019

With a broken scroll and no strings, the instrument languished in their basement until one rainy day last year, when they peeked inside the sound hole and saw elegant script scrawled across a yellowing parchment:

From Washington Times • Mar. 3, 2018

They looked inside its sound hole and shook it, hard.

From "Habibi" by Naomi Shihab Nye