down-bow

[ doun-boh ]

nounMusic.
  1. (in bowing on a stringed instrument) a stroke bringing the tip of the bow toward the strings, indicated in scores by the symbol  (opposed to up-bow).

Origin of down-bow

1
First recorded in 1890–95; down1 + bow2

Words Nearby down-bow

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use down-bow in a sentence

  • The cleft was so deep that the stern of the boat was, when she was laid down bow foremost, fully fifteen feet inside the entrance.

    Condemned as a Nihilist | George Alfred Henty
  • As a violinist Vieuxtemps possessed a wonderful staccato, both on the up and down bow.

  • Artists of the German school are more apt to begin a phrase with a down-bow; the French start playing a good deal at the point.

    Violin Mastery | Frederick H. Martens
  • Chords of this description are usually taken with down bow-strokes.

    Chats to 'Cello Students | Arthur Broadley
  • Her big stern rose up in the air and she went down bow first.

British Dictionary definitions for down-bow

down-bow

/ (ˈdaʊnˌbəʊ) /


noun
  1. a downward stroke of the bow from its nut to its tip across a stringed instrument: Compare up-bow

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