barrel organnoun [ C ]
uk/ˈbær.əl ˌɔː.ɡən/us/ˈbær.əl ˌɔːr.ɡən/a large musical instrument that plays music when you turn a handle on the side. In the past, barrel organs were played outside to entertain people.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Musical instruments
- accordion
- alphorn
- alto
- alto recorder
- bagpipes
- English horn
- euphonium
- fingerboard
- flugelhorn
- flute
- pitched
- plectrum
- reed
- reed instrument
- sax
- viola
- violin
- violoncello
- vuvuzela
- wind chimes
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Examples from literature
- Another day a street musician regarded him curiously from behind a barrel organ which he was turning with the lifeless celerity of one without interest in the sounds created by the process.
- In the distance a barrel organ became more and more distinct and as I drew nearer and the noise grew louder, I wanted to dance and sing.
- On Thursday there is a handsome Italian with a barrel organ that bears in its belly the very latest and most popular tunes.
- The same thing year after year, and the same sounds—the dismal barrel organs, and brazen instruments, and pipes, wailing, droning, booming.
- The vision kept coming and coming, like the same tune played over and over on a barrel organ, and when he woke seemed to fill all the time he had slept.