woodwind

[woo d-wind]

noun

a musical wind instrument of the group comprising the flutes, clarinets, oboes, bassoons, and occasionally, the saxophones.

woodwinds, the section of an orchestra or band comprising the woodwind instruments.

adjective

of, relating to, or composed of woodwinds.

Origin of woodwind

First recorded in 1875–80; wood¹ + wind³

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for woodwinds

Contemporary Examples of woodwinds

The percussion rolls like thunder, the woodwinds climax, the camera swoops upward, and we see the brass plaque: The Olive Garden.
Frank Underwood Will Not Tolerate Insubordination in This Olive Garden
Kelly Williams Brown
February 24, 2014

British Dictionary definitions for woodwinds

woodwind

adjective

of, relating to, or denoting a type of wind instrument, excluding the brass instruments, formerly made of wood but now often made of metal, such as the flute or clarinet

noun

(functioning as plural) woodwind instruments collectively

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

Word Origin and History for woodwinds

woodwind

1876, from wood (n.) + wind (n.).

woodwinds in Culture

woodwinds

A group of wind instruments with a softer tone than that of brass instruments. Woodwind players do not set the air in their instruments in motion by blowing through their closed lips against a cup-shaped mouthpiece, as players of brass instruments do. In woodwinds, the players insert the mouthpiece into their mouths and blow while pressing their lips against a single or double reed. Bassoons, clarinets, oboes, and saxophones are played in this way. In other woodwinds, the player blows across a hole (fifes, flutes, and piccolos) or into a whistlelike mouthpiece (recorders).