Also called piano accordion. a portable wind instrument having a large bellows for forcing air through small metal reeds, a keyboard for the right hand, and buttons for sounding single bass notes or chords for the left hand.
a similar instrument having single-note buttons instead of a keyboard.
adjective
having a fold or folds like the bellows of an accordion: accordion roof; accordion panel.
verb (used without object)
(of a door, roof, or other covering) to open by folding back or pressing together in the manner of an accordion: The roof of the car accordions to let in sunlight and fresh air.
to fold, crush together, or collapse in the manner of an accordion.
verb (used with object)
to demolish by crushing together lengthwise: The impact accordioned the car beneath the truck.
Origin of accordion
1831; <German, now spelling Akkordion, Akkordeon name under which the instrument was patented in Vienna in 1829; probably <French accord(er) or Italian accord(are) to harmonize (see accord) + French -ion-ion, as in German Orchestrionorchestrion
Words nearby accordion
according as, accordingly, according to, according to all accounts, according to Hoyle, accordion, accordion-fold, accordion graft, accordionist, accordion pleat, accordion pleats
There are pictures of pretty young women singing along to a jolly officer on the accordion.
A Holiday Lesson from Auschwitz|Christopher Buckley|December 26, 2009|DAILY BEAST
Again there came to Philip's ears the wheezing notes of the accordion.
Philip Steele of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police|James Oliver Curwood
So with small food and much of Homer and the accordion, a week passed over the heads of the outcasts.
Stories of Exile|Various
I tried the experiment in another way, by holding the accordion myself, and not letting it be touched by the medium.
Mysterious Psychic Forces|Camille Flammarion
William Vibard moved with his accordion from the porch to beside the kitchen stove.
Mountain Blood|Joseph Hergesheimer
He held an accordion over him upon which he played a medley of airs, while she whirled a soft hat with her fingers.
The Pacific Triangle|Sydney Greenbie
British Dictionary definitions for accordion
accordion
/ (əˈkɔːdɪən) /
noun
a portable box-shaped instrument of the reed organ family, consisting of metallic reeds that are made to vibrate by air from a set of bellows controlled by the player's hands. Notes are produced by means of studlike keys
short for piano accordion
Derived forms of accordion
accordionist, noun
Word Origin for accordion
C19: from German Akkordion, from Akkord harmony, chord