clarinet

[ klar-uh-net ]

noun

1. a woodwind instrument in the form of a cylindrical tube with a single reed attached to its mouthpiece.

clarinet

/ ˌklærɪˈnɛt /

noun

1. a keyed woodwind instrument with a cylindrical bore and a single reed. It is a transposing instrument, most commonly pitched in A or B flat Obsolete nameclarionetˌklærɪəˈnɛt
2. an orchestral musician who plays the clarinet

clarinet

1. A woodwind instrument, usually made of black wood or plastic, and played with a single reed . The clarinet has extensive use in Dixieland , jazz , and military music, as well as in classical music .

Notes

The most famous American clarinetist was Benny Goodman .

Derived Forms

• ˌclariˈnettist, noun

Other Words From

• clari·netist clari·nettist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of clarinet¹

1790–1800; < French clarinette, equivalent to Old French clarin clarion + -ette -ette

Word History and Origins

Origin of clarinet¹

C18: from French clarinette, probably from Italian clarinetto, from clarino trumpet

Example Sentences

As I got closer, I saw a well-dressed man playing an unusual instrument that sounded like a flute but looked like a clarinet.

From Los Angeles Times

In her youth, she was a convent-educated clarinet student.

From BBC

Walz’s father was the school superintendent, and Pettigrew remembers him fighting for a school bond — not an easy feat in a fiscally conservative town — to replace the 1897 schoolhouse said to be haunted by the ghost of a student who died after someone poisoned her clarinet reed.

From Los Angeles Times

Phil Wiggins, 69, a harmonica player of such range that he could make his instrument sound like a clarinet one minute, an accordion the next and then an entire percussion section — all in the service of the complex melodies and steady rhythms of the style known as the Piedmont blues — died of cancer May 7 in Takoma Park, Md.

From Seattle Times

Phil Wiggins, a harmonica player of such range that he could make his instrument sound like a clarinet one minute, an accordion the next and then an entire percussion section — all in the service of the complex melodies and steady rhythms of the style known as the Piedmont blues — died on May 7 at his home in Takoma Park, Md. He was 69.

From New York Times