woodwinds

Cultural  

1. 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).

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Example Sentences

I can hear the woodwinds and strings in your ode to creative lawyering in the states.

From Slate • Jan. 10, 2026

The striking “Porcelana,” about enduring pain for fleeting pleasure, has a woozy, dissonant arrangement that mixes woodwinds, shrieking strings, and skittering percussion.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 11, 2025

Will André 3000’s upcoming woodwinds album kick off a fluteaissance?

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 23, 2024

The conductor Michele Gamba painted in dusky pastels, finding unanimity of color in swelling strings and pearly woodwinds.

From New York Times • Apr. 18, 2023

Most woodwinds can get two different octaves with essentially the same fingering; the lower octave is the fundamental of the column of air inside the instrument at that fingering.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones