hurdy-gurdy
a barrel organ or similar musical instrument played by turning a crank.
a lute- or guitar-shaped stringed musical instrument sounded by the revolution against the strings of a rosined wheel turned by a crank.
Origin of hurdy-gurdy
1Other words from hurdy-gurdy
- hurdy-gurdist, hur·dy-gur·dy·ist, noun
Words Nearby hurdy-gurdy
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use hurdy-gurdy in a sentence
Tonio will take to the hurdy-gurdy again; him an' Puck should win money too.
Two Little Travellers | Frances Browne ArthurThe old Italian organ-grinder doing his best to please you with his wheezy hurdy-gurdy is not just an old organ-grinder.
Sex=The Unknown Quantity | Ali NomadPisistratus, by the help of Latin comprehending that the Savoyard says that the mice are alive, and the hurdy-gurdy is not.
The Caxtons, Complete | Edward Bulwer-LyttonMy uncle sold a watch, and I played on the hurdy-gurdy, by way of making myself popular.
The Chainbearer | J. Fenimore CooperAmong other things lying near her Dot now noticed a hurdy-gurdy, such as she had seen musicians carrying around the streets.
Dot and Tot of Merryland | L. Frank Baum
British Dictionary definitions for hurdy-gurdy
/ (ˈhɜːdɪˈɡɜːdɪ) /
any mechanical musical instrument, such as a barrel organ
a medieval instrument shaped like a viol in which a rosined wheel rotated by a handle sounds the strings
Origin of hurdy-gurdy
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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