kazoo

[ kuh-zoo ]

noun

, plural ka·zoos.

1. Also called mirliton. a musical toy consisting of a tube that is open at both ends and has a hole in the side covered with parchment or membrane, which produces a buzzing sound when the performer hums into one end.
2. Slang.
   1. the buttocks.
   2. the anus.

kazoo

/ kəˈzuː /

noun

1. a cigar-shaped musical instrument of metal or plastic with a membranous diaphragm of thin paper that vibrates with a nasal sound when the player hums into it

Word History and Origins

Origin of kazoo¹

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85; 1965–70 kazoo fordef 2; origin uncertain; alleged to be imitative; wazoo ( def )

Word History and Origins

Origin of kazoo¹

C20: probably imitative of the sound produced

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. pain in the kazoo, Slang. pain ( def 5 ):

   Organizing the family reunion was a big pain in the kazoo.

2. up / out the kazoo, Slang. wazoo ( def 3 ):

   We pay taxes up the kazoo, but the streets are still full of potholes and trash collection comes late.

Example Sentences

One instrument sounded like a wild kazoo, shrill to the point of radical harshness — something like true freedom.

From New York Times

Live entertainment district, even as picketing hotel workers lined the sides of the street playing drums and kazoos.

From Los Angeles Times

While lit with the penumbra of a spotlight aimed elsewhere, he coolly mimed the smoking of a cigarette with a kazoo.

From New York Times

She was playing the kazoo and poking around.

From Salon

Her favorite is this 1950s-era helmet in the Destination Moon gallery with a kazoo mouthpiece.

From Washington Post