banjo clock

noun

1. a clock of the early 19th century in the U.S., having a drumlike case for the dial mounted on a narrow, tapering body, with a boxlike bottom containing the pendulum and its weight.

Word History and Origins

Origin of banjo clock¹

An Americanism dating back to 1795–1805

Example Sentences

The hours passed and the old banjo clock above the mantel wheezed eleven, twelve; then one, two.

From Project Gutenberg