xylophone

[zahy-luh-fohn]

See more synonyms for xylophone on Thesaurus.com

noun

a musical instrument consisting of a graduated series of wooden bars, usually sounded by striking with small wooden hammers.

Origin of xylophone

First recorded in 1865–70; xylo- + -phone

Related formsxy·lo·phon·ic

[zahy-luh-fon-ik] /ˌzaɪ ləˈfɒn ɪk/, adjectivexy·lo·phon·ist

[zahy-luh-foh-nist, zahy-lof-uh-nist, zi-] /ˈzaɪ ləˌfoʊ nɪst, zaɪˈlɒf ə nɪst, zɪ-/, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for xylophone

carillon, vibraphone, marimba

Examples from the Web for xylophone

Contemporary Examples of xylophone

After much thought and reflection, I have decided to pursue my first loves--modern dance and the xylophone.
Laura Ingraham Temporarily Off-Air
David Frum
November 27, 2012
My ribs are like a xylophone, and the knobs of my spine stick up like ponderous cairns in the landscape of my back.
Live Nude Girl Bares All
Lizzie Stark
February 20, 2009

Historical Examples of xylophone

A touch like a xylophone player, but he knows how to use his feet.
A Book of Burlesques
H. L. Mencken
Just above the portico of his house Billie has his xylophone.
Birds and Nature, Vol. 12 No. 4 [September 1902]
Various
Then it paused, and the sonorous voice of the xylophone spoke to the jungle.
The Pathless Trail
Arthur O. (Arthur Olney) Friel
I played a xylophone and a saxophone and an accordion––all sorts of things.
The Cup of Fury
Rupert Hughes
It thrashed its bony arms impatiently and its ribs rattled like a xylophone.
Myths And Legends Of Our Own Land, Complete
Charles M. Skinner

British Dictionary definitions for xylophone

xylophone

noun

music a percussion instrument consisting of a set of wooden bars of graduated length. It is played with hard-headed hammers

Derived Formsxylophonic (ˌzaɪləˈfɒnɪk), adjectivexylophonist (zaɪˈlɒfənɪst), noun

Word Origin for xylophone

C19: from xylo- + -phone

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 xylophone

1866, coined from Greek xylon "wood" + phone "a sound" (see fame (n.)).