moon shot

There will be many shots at the moon. Our nearest neighbor in the heavens patiently revolves around the earth, waiting for us to learn its secrets. What kind of moon shots can we use to find the answers to those secrets?

1959 December, Dan Q. Posin, “An Eye on Space”, in Roderick M. Grant, editor, Popular Mechanics, volume 112, number 6, Chicago, Ill.: Popular Mechanics Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 70:

Hand across the sea: Sir, Heartiest congratulations on your new 50,000-plus circulation. I regard your feat as comparable to the Russian moon shot. David P. Morgan, Editor, "Trains", Milwaukee, U.S.A.

1960 April, “Letters to the Editor”, in Trains Illustrated, page 256:

Rockets, moon shots / Spend it on the have-not's

1971, “Inner City Blues”, in What's Going On, performed by Marvin Gaye:

The first Air Force Moon shot would be attempted in August [1958] with Thor-Able, carrying a satellite called Pioneer 0, which was rigged to send infrared photos and radiation readings back to Earth.

2007, Michael D’Antonio, A Ball, a Dog, and a Monkey: 1957, the Space Race Begins, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN:

The weeklong moon shot would make a close flyby of the moon's surface, "go quite a bit further out into deep space" and then loop back to Earth, [Elon] Musk said. The spacecraft will not try to land on the surface of the moon.

2017 February 27, Samantha Masunaga, Russ Mitchell, “SpaceX plans to send two private astronauts to circle the moon – on their own dime”, in Los Angeles Times, archived from the original on 2017-04-06:

The launching of a spacecraft or an object to orbit or land on the Moon.


sortita

From Italian sortita. Doublet of sortie.

(music) A closing voluntary; a postlude.


signature tune

(music, broadcasting) The tune that opens and/or closes a radio or television programme.


pasillo

Borrowed from Spanish pasillo (literally “corridor”).

bor+

(music) A South American genre of music with some of the features of European classical dance.


lamellophone

percussion idiophone
percussion idiophone

(music) Any of several musical instruments (percussion idiophones) in which the sound is produced by plucking a series of thin lamellae attached to a sounding board.


sanza

Sanza making is not at all specialized; anyone who wants to play the sanza makes their own. This xylophone is an instrument whose use crosses ethnic groups; one variation of it is known as the balafon.

2015, Toyin Falola, Daniel Jean-Jacques, editors, Africa: An Encyclopedia of Culture and Society, ABC-CLIO, →ISBN, page 217:

(music) Any type of mbira (thumb piano, a plucked lamellophone) of Southern African origin.


oiler

From Middle English oyler, equivalent to oil + -er.

There were a lot of renegades down towards the Mexican line who made a raid once in a while, and a few oilers livin' near had water holes in the foothills, […]

1907, Stewart Edward White, chapter 4, in Arizona Nights:


harmonizer

(music) An electronic pitch shift effect where the shifted version is played alongside the original in harmony.


double reed

(music) A pair of reeds, in any of several wind instruments, that are joined together and vibrate together.

To me, the bassoon is the greatest of the double reeds.

(music, by extension) An instrument using a double reed.


fluorescent lamp

en-noun

fluorescent lamp (plural fluorescent lamps)

A gas-discharge lamp that uses fluorescence to produce visible light.


lagerphone

1991, Experimental Musical Instruments, Volumes 7-8, page 19,
In Dunsan Makavejev′s film “The Coca-Cola Kid” (1984) the country band (Conways Carnival) performing “Waltzing Matilda” includes a lagerphone player who, in addition to hitting the stick against the ground strikes it with a stick swung in mock-bowing fashion.

2003, John Shepherd et al. (editors), “Lagerphone”, entry in Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, Volume II: Performance and Production, page 379,
In its modern form the lagerphone is of Australian origin and is a percussive instrument that produces a rhythmic effect similar to that of the tambourine.

Our three piece band consisted of Robyn on lagerphone, me on guitar and a Norwegian guitar player called Tore Nielsen.

2011, Chris Buch, Hello Sunshine: A Blitz Kid′s Journey to the Sunshine State, page 227:

(Australia, music) A generally homemade percussion instrument consisting of crown cap beer bottle tops loosely nailed to a pole (often a broom handle) and a board mounted cross-ways on the pole (the head of the broom), and played by striking the pole on the ground or with a stick, by drawing the serrated stick across the pole, or by shaking the instrument.


downbeat

(music) The accented beat at the beginning of a bar (indicated by a conductor with a downward stroke).


audio cassette

A cassette designed to hold recorded sound or music.


cithara

cithara (plural citharas or citharai or citharae or (archaic) citharæ)

citharas (plural)
citharai (plural)
citharae (plural)
citharæ (archaic plural)

From Latin cithara, from Ancient Greek κιθάρα (kithára). Doublet of cither, guitar, kithara, kissar, and zither.

doublet

(music) An ancient Greek stringed instrument, which could be considered a forerunner of the guitar.


pandeiro

/pænˈdɛəɹəʊ/

From Portuguese pandeiro, from Latin pandurium.

パンデイロ

a hand-held frame drum with a round wooden frame

A type of hand-held frame drum with a round wooden frame and six pairs of metal discs fit along the sides, and an animal skin or nylon head; similar to a tambourine but with head tension that can be tuned and crisper, drier, and less sustained jingles, used in a number of Brazilian music forms.

A square double-skinned frame drum, often with a bell inside, used in medieval Spanish/Moorish music.


spiccato

en-adj

spiccato (comparative more spiccato, superlative most spiccato)

more spiccato (comparative)
most spiccato (superlative)

Borrowed from Italian spiccato, past participle of spiccare (“to detach, to separate”).

(music) Detached; separated; with every note performed in a distinct and pointed manner.


spiccato

Most libraries have smooth, buttery legatos and exciting, natural-sounding spiccatos.

2019, Gina Zdanowicz, Spencer Bambrick, The Game Audio Strategy Guide: A Practical Course:

(music) A manner of playing a stringed instrument such that the bow is bounced off the strings after each note.


rasping

rasping (comparative more rasping, superlative most rasping)

more rasping (comparative)
most rasping (superlative)

When the opponent has led off with a fine rasping drive, the noble, but somewhat treacherous, spirit of emulation rises in the breast of the rival, and he is tempted to 'press' –ever so little, but just a little too much in order to outdo his antagonist's effort.

1890, Horace Gordon Hutchinson, Golf, page 249:

Myhill gets fingertips onto it and helps the rasping drive onto the bar and over or a corner.

2009, Ian Waterson, Live Through the Dream, page 7777:

Celta then levelled following a crisp move between Daniel Wass, Guidetti and Orellana, the Chilean sending a rasping drive high beyond Casilla.

2016 August 28, “Toni Kroos missile helps Real Madrid down impressive Celta”, in Stuff:

Zeki Amdouni had a rasping long-range drive parried away by David Raya

2023 November 11, Matthew Howarth, “Arsenal 3-1 Burnley”, in BBC Sport:

(sports) Pushing forward with great force.


string band

(music) A music group consisting solely of stringed instruments.


death cap

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-death cap.wav

(music, slang) A potentially dangerous capacitor on the primary side of the power transformer in a guitar amp.


inharmonious

inharmonious (comparative more inharmonious, superlative most inharmonious)

more inharmonious (comparative)
most inharmonious (superlative)


Gt

(music, Japan) Abbreviation of guitar (of a rock band)


heliosphere

(astronomy) The region of space where interstellar medium is blown away by solar wind; the boundary, heliopause, is often considered the edge of the Solar System.


jaws of life

By analogy with an actual jaw and the fact that this mechanical device allows the possibility of preserving the life of the victim being rescued.

2005, Mary Gordon, Pearl
Isn't there some machine used in car wrecks to extricate people called the jaws of life?

The power of the “jaws of life” were shown first and set aside.

2005, Chuck McCann, Short, Shorter and Shorter Stories, Volume 1, page 388

2009, Tony Evans, Tony Evan's Book of Illustrations
Even when drivers have had wrecks through no one's fault but their own, rescue crews still employ the "jaws of life" to get them out of trouble.

For the most terrible of car accidents, jaws of life have to be used to extricate the injured.

(firefighting) Emergency rescue equipment used to open a severely damaged passenger vehicle with a strong mechanical jaw function that forcibly pushes or pulls metal components apart, to quickly and somewhat safely extricate the trapped occupants.


positronium

en-noun

positronium (plural positroniums or positronia)

positroniums (plural)
positronia (plural)

(physics, chemistry) An exotic atom (specifically, an onium) consisting of a positron (anti-electron) and an electron, as a particle–anti-particle bound pair with no nucleus.


consonance

consonance (countable and uncountable, plural consonances)

From Middle English consonance, from Middle French consonance, from Latin cōnsonantia. Doublet of consonancy. By surface analysis, con- + son- + -ance.

surf

Like a musical string, the optic nerve responds to the waves with which it is in consonance, while it refuses to be excited by others of almost infinitely greater energy, whose period of recurrence are not in unison with its own.

1865, John Tyndall, On Radiation: The "Rede" Lecture, Delivered in the Senate-house Before the University of Cambridge on Tuesday, May 16, 1865, page 33

(chiefly music) Harmony; agreement; absence of discordance.


rockstar

A member of a rock band, or a solo artist in the genre, especially one with celebrity status.


gue

Uncertain, perhaps from Old Norse gígja. If so, doublet of gigue.

(Shetland) A kind of fiddle or violin played on the Shetland Islands.


rutherford

An obsolete unit of radioactivity (symbol: rd), defined as the activity of a quantity of radioactive material in which one million nuclei decay per second.


colorway

Each colorway has a variety of tones (light, medium, and dark) and print styles (floral, dots, stripes, abstract, and geometric).

2011, Emily Cier, Quilt Remix: Spin Traditional Favorites into 10 Fresh Projects, C&T Publishing, →ISBN, page 33:

(art) Any of the schemes of two or more colors in which a design is available.


dangdut

From the Javanese onomatopoeia for the sound of the tabla, reportedly coined by the music magazine Aktuil.

(music) A genre of Indonesian music that combines elements of Arab and Malay folk music.


mensural

From Latin mēnsūrālis, from mēnsūra (“measure”) + -ālis.


darbuka

/ˌdɑːˈbuːkə/

Borrowed from Arabic دَرْبُوكَة (darbūka).

(music) A type of goblet drum, originating in the Middle East and North Africa.


torcher

/ˈtɔːt͡ʃə(ɹ)/

-ɔː(ɹ)tʃə(ɹ)

Ere twice the horses of the sun shall bring
 Their fiery torcher his diurnal ring, […]

c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], line 162:

(obsolete) One who gives light with a torch, or as if with a torch.

[…] their set includes a Patsy Cline torcher and reaches some sort of peak with a 29-song Irving Berlin medley.

1988 August 26, Neil Tesser, “Montgomery, Plant & Stritch”, in Chicago Reader:

(science fiction) The pilot of a spacecraft propelled by a torch drive (a spacecraft engine which produces thrust by nuclear fusion).


psychobilly

(music) A genre of popular music, blending rockabilly with punk rock, that has grotesque or humorous lyrics which often draw heavily on the imagery of 1950s science fiction and horror films.


samplist

(music) A person who makes music by use of sampling


sampladelic

en-adj

sampladelic (comparative more sampladelic, superlative most sampladelic)

more sampladelic (comparative)
most sampladelic (superlative)

(music) Describing a form of popular music in which sampling is used to create a psychedelic effect


punkabilly

en-noun

punkabilly (countable and uncountable, plural punkabillies)

(music) A subgenre of psychobilly that blends rockabilly with punk rock.


anthemic

en-adj

anthemic (comparative more anthemic, superlative most anthemic)

more anthemic (comparative)
most anthemic (superlative)

Hardly inspirational stuff, but this beatmix collection of popular House/garage cuts by DJ Pierre, Roger S, Ultra Naté and others is probably the easiest place to find Farley's anthemic "Love Can't Turn Around".

1999, Sean Bidder, House: The Rough Guide, page 109:

Honing the band's anthemic sound and stance, they relocated to Richmond and created a solid lineup.

2014, Kevin Prested, Punk USA: The Rise and Fall of Lookout Records, page 79:

But something new was rippling through a million MySpace profiles. The sound was electro, and bass-laced synthetic dance pop would soon start streaming in from producers in Paris, dizzying the twenteens of Britain with its accessible, anthemic funk.

(music) Suggestive of an anthem; rousing.


anthemic

Passionate anthemics, prog-rock twists and turns, and several Hendrix-ian guitar burnouts by self-aware showman Patrick Krief aimed straight for the cheap seats and left everyone feeling pleasantly dazed.

2009 March 16, Ben Rayner, “Hot sounds”, in Toronto Star:

(music) A song that is suggestive of an anthem.


turntablist

(music) A DJ who uses a combination of turntables as a musical instrument.


tracklisting

(music) A list of tracks appearing on an album, EP, LP etc.


lo-fi

lo-fi (comparative more lo-fi, superlative most lo-fi)

more lo-fi (comparative)
most lo-fi (superlative)

(sound) Having an old-fashioned quality.

(music) Having a rough quality, not musically smooth and refined.


lo-fi

(music) A subgenre of hip-hop that includes traditional jazz elements and drum machine samples.

(music) A subgenre of rock music characterized by minimal production, giving a raw and unsophisticated sound.


brass band

(music) A group of musicians who play brass instruments (sometimes accompanied by percussion)


twerk

Onomatopoeic, possibly coined by Roger Tory Peterson.

Note of male on territory, a loud kurr or twerk.

1961, Roger Tory Peterson, A Field Guide to Western Birds, page 67:

An abrupt call, such as that made by the California quail.


incidental music

The incidental music helped give the programme its evocative atmosphere.

(music) Music that is played as a background to a film, television programme, video game, etc.


whole note

(Canada, US, music) A semibreve, a musical note four beats long in 4/4 time.


reprocessing

en-noun

reprocessing (countable and uncountable, plural reprocessings)

eye movement desensitization and reprocessing

For 75 years, it has fulfilled a wide range of roles: producing weapons-grade plutonium for early atomic weapons in the aftermath of the Second World War; the world's first commercial nuclear power station supplying electricity to the National Grid; reprocessing and storage of nuclear fuel; and the processing of lower grades of radioactive waste for off-site storage.

2023 December 27, Ben Jones, “Inside Sellafield... by rail”, in RAIL, number 999, page 20:

(engineering, nuclear physics, uncountable) The process of extracting useful or valuable materials from used nuclear fuel, mainly focusing on the recovery of fissile and fertile material for use in fresh nuclear reactor fuel, or, in some cases, the manufacture of nuclear weapons.


subtonic

(music) The note immediately below the upper note of a musical scale.


primary colour

Red, blue and green are additive primary colours.

Magenta, yellow and cyan are subtractive primary colours.

(British spelling) Any of three colours which, when added to or subtracted from others in different amounts, can generate all other colours

color primari

any of three colours which can generate all other colours


mussitate

en-verb

mussitate (third-person singular simple present mussitates, present participle mussitating, simple past and past participle mussitated)

mussitates (present singular third-person)
mussitating (participle present)
mussitated (participle past)
mussitated (past)
except literary (obsolete)

Learned borrowing from Latin mussitātus (“kept quiet; having been kept quiet; murmured, muttered; having been muttered”) + English -ate (suffix forming verbs meaning ‘to act [in the specified manner]’). Mussitātus is the perfect passive participle of mussitō (“to keep quiet; to murmur, mutter”), from mussō (“to be silent and respectful; to say in a soft voice, murmur”) (from Proto-Indo-European *mur- (“to murmur”), originally imitative) + -itō (frequentative suffix).

lbor

Let none dare to think as vve hear ſome one or tvvo begins to muſſitate, that the Magiſtrates miſcarriages about the matters of Religion, does forfault him of his right to govern, and ſo cadens titulo, is no more to be ovvned as King.

1681, “an Healing Hand” [pseudonym; John Bairdy], Balm from Gilead: Or, The Differences about the Indulgence, Stated and Impleaded: […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cockerill […], →OCLC, page 162:

Nay, farther, in Isaiah we are taught, concerning those who speak out of the ground, whose voice is as of one who hath a familiar spirit, and whose speech shall whisper, peep, chirp, mutter or mussitate low out of the dust, namely: that they shall be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, earthquake, great noise, storm and tempest, and with the flame of devouring fire. (xxix. 4, 6.)

1843, William Elder, “In Relation to the Powers and Prerogatives of the Clergy to Rule and Teach, Claimed to be Immediately from on High Independent of the Laity”, in The Genius of Ecclesiastical Freedom; Comprising the Declaration of Divine Order, Made by the First Convention of the New Church in Union County, Indiana; […], Cincinnati, Oh.: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 220:

Enough remains, however, to make one go mussitating in solitary places, like a banished bull μελεος μελεῳ ποδι χηρενων.

1860, Alazon [pseudonym; William Richard Barnes], “XIX [Lord Brougham, Lord George Gordon, Lessons from the East End Riots, the Author’s Fears, Sponsors, and Lord Ebury’s Letter on Ash-Wednesday]”, in Let Well Alone: Or Removal of Blemishes from Church and State, London: Longman & Co. […], →OCLC, page 182:

I have now another visitant [a mouse], a much quieter animal: it rustles about a good deal on first entering, but after a while it subsides into a gentle and very peculiar murmuring sound: […] it is really mussitating, i.e., "to gently murmur," […]

1869 April 1, A. Hall, “Notes and Queries. [Habits of House Mice.]”, in M[ordecai] C[ubitt] Cooke, editor, Hardwicke’s Science-Gossip: An Illustrated Medium of Interchange and Gossip for Students and Lovers of Nature, volume V, number 52, London: Robert Hardwicke, […], published 1870, →OCLC, page 93, column 1:

The boat chugged up to the little stone jetty / without breaking the skin of the water, stretching, / as black as my stout, from somewhere unspeakable / to here, where the foaming lip mussitates endlessly, / trying, with a nutter's persistence, to read / and re-read the shoreline.

1993, Don Paterson, “The Ferryman’s Arms”, in Nil Nil, London: Faber and Faber, →ISBN, page 1:

"I, a military man, who might just someday enter politics. Do not cast pearls before gypsies!" he mussitated, walking on, and did not stop until he reached the churchyard, where he faced a peculiar sight.

2014, Magdalena Zyzak, “In which Odolechka is Introduced to the Automobile, a Technology hitherto Largely in the Domain of Rumor”, in The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel […], New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and Company, →ISBN, pages 44–45:

(intransitive) To talk indistinctly; to mutter.


gigging

(film, music, television, theater) The act of engaging in a musical performance, acting in a theatre production, etc.


trad

I've been listening to trad jazz lately.

There are a couple of soups, a hot dish, a quichey option, a salad of the day, good trad puds and that’s about it.

2002 October, Charles Campion, The Rough Guide to London Restaurants, 2003/5th edition, London: Rough Guides, →ISBN, page 187:


trad

en-noun

trad (countable and uncountable, plural trads)

2017, Lonely Planet Ireland's Best Trips, https://books.google.com/books?id=N6x9BAAAQBAJ&pg=PT251&dq=%22trad+music%22+irish+music&hl=en&sa=X&ei=I0qUVaWXLIjjsAWYyILQDg&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAg
Miltown Malbay hosts the annual Willie Clancy Irish Music Festival, one of Ireland's great trad music events.

2010, Fodor's Ireland 2010 https://books.google.com/books?id=dhfTd0wKanIC&pg=PA443&dq=%22trad+music%22+irish+music&hl=en&sa=X&ei=I0qUVaWXLIjjsAWYyILQDg&ved=0CFAQ6AEwCQ
Galway is the heart of Trad— the city and its environs have nurtured some of the most durable names in Irish music.


uranian

(mineralogy) Containing hexavalent uranium.


tokamak

Borrowed from Russian токама́к (tokamák), an acronym of то(роида́льная) ка́(мера) (с) ма(гни́тными) к(ату́шками) (to(roidálʹnaja) ká(mera) (s) ma(gnítnymi) k(atúškami), “toroidal chamber with magnetic coils”).

Studies of electrodeless discharges in a strong longitudinal magnetic field, carried out on the stellarator and the "Tokamak", have shown that in such systems the plasma becomes unstable for currents appreciably les than the critical current of Shafranov-Kruskal.

1963 November, E. P. Gorbunov, K. A. Razumova, “The Effect of a Strong Magnetic Field on the Magnetohydrodynamic Stability of Plasma and the Containment of Charged Particles in the ‘Tokamak’”, in Soviet Atomic Energy, volume 15, number 5, New York, N.Y.: Consultants Bureau, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1105:

A Tokamak engineering test reactor (TETR) will be an important component of any national or international program to achieve viable Tokamak fusion power reactors.

1975, J. W. Lue, R. W. Conn, “Superconducting Toroidal Field Magnets for a Tokamak Engineering Test Reactor”, in K. D. Timmerhaus, D. H. Weitzel, editors, Advances in Cryogenic Engineering, volume 21, New York, N.Y., London: Plenum Press, →OCLC, page 41; republished Boston, Mass.: Springer, 2013, →DOI, →ISBN, page 41:

Of magnetic fusion experiments, those in Tokamaks are closest to achieving the combination of confinement conditions needed for a reactor.

1982, “Controlled Nuclear Fusion”, in Energy in Transition 1985–2010: Final Report of the Committee on Nuclear and Alternative Energy Systems, National Research Council, Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, →ISBN, page 390:

Researchers use large doughnut-shaped vessels called tokomaks to try to achieve the critical temperature and density needed for fusion to begin. A tokomak uses powerful magnetic fields to contain hydrogen, which is heated to several million degrees. As the strength of the magnetic field increases, it squeezes the plasma, resulting in a higher temperature and density.

1989 September–October, D. Benningfield, “Funds Requested to Speed Up Nuclear Fusion Experiments”, in Ernstine Wheelock, editor, Alcalde, volume 78, number 1, Austin, Tx.: The Ex-Students' Association of the University of Texas, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 43, column 1:

Slowly, the solenoid—all one thousand tons of it—will be carried to the tokamak and lowered into the center of the vacuum chamber.

2014 March 3, Raffi Khatchadourian, “A Star in a Bottle: An Audacious Plan to Create a New Energy Source could Save the Planet from Catastrophe. But Time is Running Out.”, in The New Yorker, archived from the original on 2018-12-05:

(nuclear physics) A torus-shaped chamber used in nuclear fusion research in which a plasma is magnetically confined.

托卡馬克

A torus-shaped chamber in which a plasma is magnetically confined


waning moon

From waning + moon. Compare Middle English waynynge of the mone, wanynge of þe mone (literally “waning of the moon”).

A moon (usually the Moon, that is, Earth's moon) when it appears smaller each night as it progresses from a full moon to a new moon: a moon in any of the diminishing lunar phases.

လဆုတ်

moon as it progresses from full moon to a new moon


waxing moon

From waxing + moon. Compare Middle English wexinge of the mone, þe waxyng of moone, waxinge of þe mone, wexinge of þe mone (literally “(the) waxing of the moon”).

A moon (usually the Moon, that is, Earth's moon) when it appears larger each night as it progresses from a new moon to a full moon: a moon in any of the increasing lunar phases.

tiltagende måne

The moon as it progresses from a new moon to a full moon


bodhran

A type of frame drum used in Irish music struck traditionally with an animal bone, or in modern times, with a piece of wood.


uilleann pipes

uilleann pipes pl (normally plural, singular uilleann pipe)

Partial calque of Irish píb uilleann, literally "elbow pipe".

The bagpipes of Ireland, which have a bellows strapped around the wrist and arm to inflate the bag rather than the player blowing to do so.


ectara

Borrowed from Hindi एकतारा (ektārā, literally “one-string”), ultimately from Classical Persian یکتار. Related to sitar.

bor

A one-stringed musical instrument from India.


resource energy

en-noun

resource energy (countable and uncountable, plural resource energies)

Energy taken from a source that is depleted by extraction (such as fossil fuels).

luonnonvarasta saatava energia

energy taken from a source that is depleted by extraction


bass viol

My piano teacher also plays the bass viol.

A fretted, bowed, stringed musical instrument from the viola da gamba family. It occupies the bass range and is the lowest instrument in the family. Similar to (but smaller than) a cello.

division viol

bass viol; a viol that plays in the bass range, but not a


hypo-

From Ancient Greek ὑπο- (hupo-), combining form of ὑπό (hupó, “under”). Doublet of sub-.
Etymology tree
Ancient Greek ὑπο- (hupo-)der.
English hypo-

etymon

(music, of a mode) Having a range which extends from a perfect fourth below the tonic to a perfect fifth above.


figurate

From figure + -ate (adjective-forming suffix).


ricercata

From Italian ricercata. Doublet of recherche.


tumbleweed moment

en-noun

tumbleweed moment (plural tumbleweed moments)

From the motif in western movies where the wind blows tumbleweeds through the scene, usually to establish that the place is desolate or empty.

…real life television news quizzes have the benefit of careful editing to remove the tumbleweed moments.

2004 July 14, Laura Davis, “Arts Diary: STAGE QUIZ”, in Daily Post, Liverpool, England:

When you’re wondering if they might just sit there self-consciously not saying anything (a tumbleweed moment) you need to get away from the centre-front, start moving around.

2005 April 1, Trevor Wright, How to Be a Brilliant English Teacher, Routledge, →ISBN, page 78:

Peter Gibson, of Keep Britain Tidy, said: “in a world of daft pranks, we want littering to be that tumbleweed moment, the joke that falls flat on its face.”

2005 December 19, Robert Stansfield, “Gimp ad to shame litter louts”, in The Mirror, London, England:

(British, figuratively, broadcasting) A period of stony, unresponsive silence.


tromboner

(nonstandard) A person who plays a trombone.


pricket

From Middle English precat, preket, priket, pryket; equivalent to prick + -et. Earlier currency of the Middle English word is apparently implied by surnames and borrowings into Latin and Anglo-Norman.

Near-synonyms: brocket, knobber, knobbler, spitter

he can stay / For the new-mown hay, / And startle the dappled prickets?

1816, John Keats, For there's Bishop's Teign:

A male deer in its second year, whose antlers have not yet branched.


furioso

Borrowed from Italian. Doublet of furious.


erhu

From Mandarin 二胡 (èrhú), from 二 (èr, “two”) + 胡 (hú, “fiddle; short for 胡琴, a family of Chinese vertical fiddles”).

Searches on Craigslist turned up no ads for erhus, wanted or offered, though there was a posting for an instrument found on the Lower East Side (the owner must identify the instrument).

2009 March 10, Jennifer 8. Lee, “Cherished Instrument Is Gone, and to Its Owner, Loss Is Like a Death”, in New York Times:

A type of bowed spike fiddle having two strings, originating in China as part of the huqin family of string instruments.


autunite

autunite (countable and uncountable, plural autunites)

From Autun + -ite, after Autun, France, near which it was discovered in 1852.

(mineralogy) A yellow mineral with tetragonal crystals, Ca(UO₂)₂(PO₄)₂·10-12H₂O.


neutron drip line

neutron drip line (plural neutron drip lines)

(physics) The jagged line, on a chart showing the number of protons and neutrons of all known isotopes, beyond which neutron-rich nuclei are unstable and emit neutrons.


sarangi

A sarangi player set the tone and Kalavati began to sing in her sweet, melodious voce; mridangam and sitar accompanied her.

2015, Tridip Suhrud, translating Govardhanram Madhavram Tripathi, Sarasvatichandra I, Orient BlackSwan 2015, p. 145

(music) A bowed string instrument used in the Hindustani classical music of North India.


bansuri

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-Iranian *wanćás
Sanskrit वंश (vaṃśa)
Sanskrit -ई (-ī)
Sanskrit वंशी (vaṃśī)
Prakrit -𑀮- (-la-)
Braj बाँसुरी (bā̃surī)bor.
Hindi बाँसुरी (bā̃surī)bor.
English bansuri
Borrowed from Hindi बाँसुरी (bā̃surī); see there for more.

etymon

A cool breeze began to blow, carrying on it the undulating notes of a bansuri from some village downriver.

2004, Khushwant Singh, Burial at Sea, Penguin, published 2014, page 94:

(music) A bamboo transverse flute used in the classical music of North India.


tanbur

(music) In classical Turkish music, a long-necked, fretted, plucked lute, or various similar lutes of West and Central Asia.


septenary

From the Latin septēnārius (“consisting of seven each”), from septēnī (“seven each”, “seven at a time”) + -ārius (whence the English suffix -ary).

der

(music) The seven notes of the diatonic scale.


norteño

From Spanish norteño (“Northern [Mexico]”).

Coordinate term: Tejano

At a party in an isolated mountain community in central Mexico, the host may well take out his accordion and play norteño corridos until the dawn breaks.

2000, Simon Broughton, Mark Ellingham, James McConnachie, Orla Duane, World Music: The Rough Guide. Latin and North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, Rough Guides, →ISBN, page 470:

The two-stage festival's lineup reads like a who's who of norteño, duranguense and banda sinaloense acts, including Los Tigres del Norte, Banda el Recodo, Conjunto Primavera, Los Tucanes de Tijuana and K-Paz de la Sierra.

2010 April 17, Ayala Ben-Yehuda, “Field of Dreams: Vive Grupero Festival Snares Regional Mexican Artists For Free”, in Billboard, volume 122, number 15, page 8:

(music) A genre of Mexican music related to polka and corridos, emerged in the late 19th century.


perdendosi

Then towards the end you hear them both interlaced, and both are being resolved in a perdendosi.

1958, Edgar Mittelhölzer, The Old Blood, page 495:

For the AnC period, Karlgren (Études, pp. 38-39) describes the Four tones p'ing ('even perdendosi'), shang ('rising perdendosi'), ch'u ('probably falling perdendosi'), ju (ex abrupto), but then ...

1959, University of California Publications in East Asiatic Philology:

The final nine bars must be played in strict time: the perdendosi effect relies on the lessening of rhythmic activity rather than a slackening of tempo.

1999, Graham Steed, The Organ Works of Marcel Dupré, →ISBN, page 79:


shinobue

A type of transverse flute from Japan that makes a high-pitched sound.


gagaku

From Japanese 雅楽 (gagaku), from Middle Chinese 雅樂 (MC ngaeX ngaewk, “ancient ceremonial music”). Doublet of aak and yayue.

ltc-l

the ancient court ritual classical music of Japan, of Chinese and Korean origin


New Wave

Any of several movements in music and film which are or were considered cutting edge.


whole step

(music) An interval equal to two half steps; a whole tone.


half step

(music, US) The distance between two tones. In 12-tone equal temperament, its frequency ratio is 2^(1/12), or about 1.059 or 18/17.


beta radiation

en-noun

beta radiation (countable and uncountable, plural beta radiations)

(physics) The radiation of beta particles as a result of radioactive decay.


bisbigliando

From Italian bisbigliando (“whispering”).

(music) Tremolo produced by a bowed or plucked string instrument such as a harp.


new wave

New York to east California / There's a new wave coming, I warn ya

1981, “Kids in America”, performed by Kim Wilde:

(music) An alternative and broad pop and rock music genre that existed during the late 1970s and the early to mid-1980s, incorporating punk sensibilities and/or other forms of music, but made with more accessibility.


serenata

Borrowed from Italian serenata. Doublet of serenade.

More’s the pity, for this work (technically a serenata) is a little gem, and Aulos polished it to a fine luster.

2007 January 25, James R. Oestreich, “The Shepherd, the Sea Nymph and the Big Rock, Abridged”, in New York Times:

(music) A type of baroque cantata performed outdoors, in the evening, with mixed vocal and instrumental forces


nonmetrical

(music) Without the constraints of a metronome; not played or sung with a strict underlying rhythmic method.


pachanga

A lively style of Cuban music, a mixture of son montuno and merengue.


arp

"The arp can be applied to instruments by inserting it as a MIDI effect before your synth of choice."

2014 June 4, Bruce Aisher, “COMPLEX ARPS”, in Attack, archived from the original on 2018-09-16:


compas

(music) A form of string music from Haiti


chocolo

(music) A shaker that plays a note throughout a samba piece or performance


gleeman

From Middle English gleman, gleoman, from Old English glēomann, glīġman, corresponding to glee (“music; minstrelsy; entertainment”) + man. Cognate with Scots gle-man, gleman (“gleeman, minstrel”).

af

The ancient Celts carefully distinguished the poet, who was originally a priest and judge as well and whose person was sacrosanct, from the mere gleeman.

1948 (revised 1952), Robert Graves, The White Goddess, Faber & Faber 1999, p. 17

(historical) A professional singer, bard, or other entertainer.


Orange GGN

(organic chemistry) An orange azo dye, 1-(m-sulfophenylazo)-2-naphthol-6-sulfonic acid, used as a food colouring


merengue

en-noun

merengue (countable and uncountable, plural merengues)

From American Spanish merengue, from French meringue. Doublet of meringue.

The marina was a mainstay of the neighborhood, and Mr. O’Rourke was known for staging salsa and merengue concerts.

2007 January 7, Alex Mindlin, “For a Shuttered Marina, Some Regret, Some Relief”, in New York Times:

(music, uncountable) A type of music common in the Caribbean, originally associated with the Dominican Republic.


black drop effect

black drop effect (plural black drop effects)

(astronomy) An optical effect, occurring during the transit of an object in front of the Sun, by which light is bent around the object, causing it to look stretched out.


blue flash

(nuclear physics) A phenomenon sometimes observed when a criticality incident occurs in nuclear materials, inducing a discharge of radiation into the environment.


biwa

Borrowing from Japanese 琵琶 (biwa). Doublet of bipa and pipa.

A plucked lute, originating in the classical and traditional music of Japan, characterized by a pear-shaped body and four or five high frets, giving the instrument a distinctively twangy tone.


plagal

en-adj

plagal (comparative more plagal, superlative most plagal)

more plagal (comparative)
most plagal (superlative)

From Late Latin plagalis, from plaga, from plagius, from Byzantine Ancient Greek πλάγιος (plágios, “plagal”), πλάγιος (plágios, “oblique”).

der

(music) Designating a mode lying a perfect fourth below the authentic form.

(music) Designating a cadence in which the subdominant chord precedes the tonic.


dolcissimo

From Italian dolcissimo, superlative of dolce (“sweet”).


divo

A male diva; a man with the traits characteristic of a typical diva.


petro-

* From Latin petra (“stone, rock”), from Ancient Greek πέτρα (pétra, “stone, rock”).
* Clipping of petroleum.


electronic rock

(music) Any of various genres of rock music that feature electronic synthesisers.


corbeau

Borrowed from French corbeau m (“raven”).

The local corbeaux, black, heavy, hunched, hopped about the slopes of rubbish; the children of the shanty town ran between the traffic on the rubbish-strewn highway to get to the dump.

2011, V. S. Naipaul, A Way in the World, →ISBN:

A whale man, if you see a whale. It beach. It taking up the whole of La Tinta. You not see the corbeaux? The Marines say they think it must be dead.

2014, Lawrence Scott, Night Calypso, →ISBN:

Across the blue sky, a big black bird, a vulture, a corbeau. It swooped down low and landed, its long, ringed legs trembling as it anchored itself on the branch of a thick-trunked tree. Around it, more corbeaux, cemetery gargoyles guarding the dead.

2016, Elizabeth Nunez, Prospero's Daughter, →ISBN, page 317:

Coragyps atratus
Coragyps atratus#Translingual

By 8 August, it was necessary to conscript beggars to bury the dead because the corbeaux, special bearers of plague-striken corpses, no longer sufficed for the task.

1972, David Victor Glass, Roger Revelle, Population and social change, page 234:

The next day she died and her body was removed by the corbeaux (the men who carted away the dead) - an ignominious death like that of Jesus Christ, wrote the annalist.

2001, A Social History of the Cloister, →ISBN, page 212:

By late summer, the magistrates themselves admitted their helplessness. They called in the notorious and dreaded corbeaux—convicts promised a commutation of their sentence in exchange for performing the dangerous task of removing the bodies.

2012, Marie-Hélène Huet, The Culture of Disaster, →ISBN, page 28:

(historical) A man who carts away the dead plague victims.

corbeau:

A very dark shade of green, almost black.


fire axe

A special type of axe used by firefighters, typically featuring a pick-shaped pointed poll (area of the head opposite the cutting edge) and in a vivid color to make it easily visible during an emergency.


petroliferous

en-adj

petroliferous (comparative more petroliferous, superlative most petroliferous)

more petroliferous (comparative)
most petroliferous (superlative)

Oil-shales are often the last relics of a former impregnation with petroleum; they are associated with phenomena—such as the intrusive asphaltites or manjacks—common to petroliferous regions, but in many cases the parent oilfields, the sources of the former impregnation, are things of the past.

1922, Intermountain Industry and Engineering: Official Publication: Utah Motor Transport Ass'n, volume 24:

(geology, petrology, of a rock or geologic formation) Containing or yielding petroleum.


nonradioactive

Not radioactive; not generating radioactivity.


gruppetto

en-noun

gruppetto (plural gruppetti or gruppettos)


rig pig

And, of course, they can maintain control of half a dozen shit-scared rig pigs.

2005, Paul Carter, Don't Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs, She Thinks I'm a Piano Player in a Whorehouse, page 95:

"Rig pigs are welders that drive souped up pick-up trucks with all their gear in the back and they spend weeks at sites welding. […]" "[…] You should know that. You're from Alberta!"

2006, Laurie Hannan, The Gamble, page 118:

You are truly a fucking champion and thank you for bringing a smile to a rig pig's wife!

2007, Paul Carter, This Is Not a Drill: Just Another Glorious Day in the Oilfield, page 238:

(oil industry, slang) A worker on an oil rig; a roughneck.


hammered dulcimer

hammered dulcimer (plural hammered dulcimers)

(music) A type of dulcimer whose metal strings are stretched over a trapezoidal sounding board that has two bridges, one bass and one treble, set on a stand and played with small mallet-like hammers.


eosin

eosin (countable and uncountable, plural eosins)

Borrowed from German Eosin, coined by Heinrich Caro, from Ancient Greek ἠώς (ēṓs, “dawn”) + -in.

Thus the fluorescence of the familiar dye eosin can be excited quite well by ultra-violet or short-wave blue light, but is much better excited by visible green light with a wavelength close to that of the emitted radiation.

1999, Dan J. Goldstein, Understanding the Light Microscope, page 91:

Eosins are acid xanthene or phthalein dyes. Eosin Y, eosin B, phloxine and erythrosin (which unlike other eosins, is halogenated with iodine), are the common members of this group of dyes.

2000, J. Ochei, A. Kolhatkar, Medical Laboratory Science: Theory And Practice, page 450:

The hematoxylin and eosin stain (H&E) is the most widely used histological stain.

2012, John D. Bancroft, Christopher Layton, “10: The hemotoxylins and eosin”, in S. Kim Suvarna, Christopher Layton, John D. Bancroft, editors, Bancroft's Theory and Practice of Histological Techniques, 7th edition, page 173:

(organic chemistry) A red, acidic dye commonly used in histological stains.


catch-breath

[…] it is possible to obtain the desired effect by allowing sections or individuals within a section to take an unobtrusive catch-breath at different times.

1940, Van Ambrose Christy, Glee Club and Chorus: A Handbook, page 55:

(drama, singing) A pause to take a breath.


stabat mater

Borrowed from Latin stabat mater (“the mother was standing”) (the first words of the hymn).

bor

(music) A hymn, sung in Latin, telling of the sorrow of the Virgin Mary at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ; the music for this hymn.


partiture

(music) The printing of each instrument's part on a separate stave


oil lamp

The West Clare Railway is, I suppose, one of the most primitive in the whole C.I.E. system, for its coaches date entirely from 1887 to 1890, and are still lit with oil lamps.

1948 March and April, “Notes and News: Narrow-Gauge in Western Eire”, in Railway Magazine, page 129:

A simple vessel used to produce light continuously for a period of time from a liquid fuel source, especially lamp oil.


petrol filling station

en-noun

petrol filling station (plural petrol filling stations)

(British) filling station, especially one attached to a supermarket


shoot the moon

en-verb

shoot the moon (third-person singular simple present shoots the moon, present participle shooting the moon, simple past and past participle shot the moon)

shoots the moon (present singular third-person)
shooting the moon (participle present)
shot the moon (participle past)
shot the moon (past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-shoot the moon.wav

The Army, making its first attempt to shoot the moon, had spent weeks fussing over the Juno II, a 60-ton Jupiter IRBM with a spike of high-speed rockets.

1958 December 15, “Juno's Gold Cone”, in Time:

To hit the moon, with a rocket or by other means.


tooting

These tootings can be sometimes heard at the distance of a mile.

1867, Sewell Newhouse, John Humphrey Noyes, The Trapper's Guide:


jingle bell

/ˈd͡ʒɪŋɡl̩ bɛl/

/ˈd͡ʒɪŋɡ(ə)l ˌbɛl/

From jingle (“sound of metal, etc., clattering against itself”, attributively) + bell.

compound

Jingle bells, jingle bells, / Jingle all the way. / Oh! what fun it is to ride / In a one-horse open sleigh.

1857 September 15, James Lord Pierpont (lyrics and music), “The One Horse Open Sleigh”:

Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock / Jingle bells swing and jingle bells ring

1957 November 28, Joe Beal, Jim Boothe [disputed] (lyrics and music), “Jingle Bell Rock”performed by Bobby Helms, Decca Records:

A small, hollow, spherical metal bell with a narrow slit opening or small holes, containing a loose ball or rod as a clapper, which is attached to a horse's harness as a signal, or (music) used as a musical instrument.


tribute band

(music) A group of musicians and singers which exists solely to play the music of a well-known band that has disbanded or no longer tours.


pedaling

(music) The set of pedal movements to be performed when playing a piano or organ.


pull an all-nighter

en-verb

pull an all-nighter (third-person singular simple present pulls an all-nighter, present participle pulling an all-nighter, simple past and past participle pulled an all-nighter)

pulls an all-nighter (present singular third-person)
pulling an all-nighter (participle present)
pulled an all-nighter (participle past)
pulled an all-nighter (past)

(idiomatic, informal) To stay awake throughout the night, usually when working or studying.


pan flute

panpipes, a musical instrument, played by mouth, comprising tubes arranged in order of length.


classical guitar

en-noun

classical guitar (plural classical guitars)

A type of flat-tabled guitar of Spanish origin used primarily for Western classical music, flamenco, and Latin American music, with six nylon (formerly gut) strings, usually played with the fingers rather than with a plectrum.

guitarra clàssica

guitar used primarily for classical music


strummer

One who strums a stringed musical instrument.


shushing

All except little Johnny, who fussed and fidgeted with a typical three-year-old's impatience at such things, mindless of his mother's quiet shushings.

2011, Janet Dailey, American Dreams, page 143:

The act of making a shush sound to silence somebody.


probie

A probie never complains. A probie keeps his mouth shut, his eyes open. A probie is never idle. A probie is always learning or drilling or cleaning. That's why you're still called a probie: for one year after you leave training school.

1997. Steve Delson. "The Fire Inside: Firefighters Talk About Their Lives", Page 41

(slang, firefighting) A neophyte firefighter.


geru

An earthy red color, used in India to paint flowerpots and tree bases.


baseload

The minimum load on a power station over a standard period.


ajaeng

A bowed zither used in Korean traditional and classical music.


kkwaenggwari

Borrowed from Korean 꽹과리 (kkwaenggwari).

A small brass gong used in Korean folk music


nagak

A seashell horn used in the music of Korea.


danso

A small notched, end-blown vertical flute made of bamboo or plastic, used in Korean music.


rhonchus

Borrowed from Latin rhonchus (“snoring”), from Ancient Greek ῥόγχος (rhónkhos) (Caelius Aurelianus), of imitative origin.

“You have poisoned yourself again!” Humfried emitted an alarming rhonchus.

2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 699:

(medicine) A dry rattling sound heard during breathing, due to deposits in the bronchial tubes.


fire chief

A leader of a fire station; an officer in charge of firemen and fighting fires.


d.c. al coda

(music) A music notation roughly meaning "go back to the beginning, playing everything again up to the coda."


trem

Remember that the footswitch has to be working and plugged in for the trem and vibrato to work.

1995, Mike Thompson, Great Tube Amp and Guitar Mods, →ISBN, page 31:

When you pick up the bar to use it, the trem unlocks and becomes a floating bridge again.

2002, Barry Lipman, Guitar Questions: The Novice's Guide to Guitar Repairs, →ISBN, page 89:


rabab

The hired musicians—rabab, hand drums, and ghärawnay, or Chinese flute—had learned “Kalinka” and “Ochi Chorniya”

2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 846:

An Arabian stringed instrument, played by plucking or with a bow.


cornetist

The cornetist’s sombre repertoire had made her spirits drop.

2022, Kate Atkinson, Shrines of Gaiety, Doubleday, page 85:


baglama

From Turkish bağlama, from bağlamak (“to tie”).

At the end of the room, as if behind an iconastasis of song, oud, baglamas, and a kind of hammered dulcimer called a santouri were being played without a break.

2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 945:

A seven-stringed musical instrument in various cultures around the eastern Mediterranean, with a pear-shaped body, and strings in double or sometimes triple courses.


all night

Coordinate term: all day

We stayed up all night.

I wanna rock and roll all night and party every day.


rhythm guitar

A guitar in a band that provides rhythm, usually by playing chords or similar accompanying parts, to support the lead guitar.


tubular bells

tubular bells pl (normally plural, singular tubular bell)

percussion instrument
percussion instrument

(music) A percussion instrument consisting of a set of tuned metal tubes that are struck with a mallet, producing sounds like those of church bells.

آلة إيقاعية

percussion instrument consisting of tuned metal tubes


rose gold

rose gold (countable and uncountable, plural rose golds)

A gold-copper alloy used in jewelry for its reddish color.


sonoluminescence

(physics) The emission of short bursts of light from imploding bubbles in a liquid when excited by sound.


pyrophile

A creature that likes and delights in the presence of fire.


queercore

(music) The aggressive rock music associated with this group of people.


valiha

(music) A form of bamboo zither from Madagascar


kaval

MATT DARRIAU’S PARADOX TRIO (Thursday) In addition to Mr. Darriau — on clarinet and saxophones as well as kaval (an end-blown flute) and gaida (a kind of bagpipe) — this exuberant Bulgarian-improv band features Brad Shepik’s guitars, Rufus Cappadocia’s cello and Seido Salifoski’s hand drums.

2007 July 27, The New York Times, “Jazz Listings”, in New York Times:

(music) A chromatic end-blown flute of Asia and eastern Europe.


Chopsticks

Originally called The Celebrated Chop Waltz, because of the chopping motion of the fingers on the keys.

(music) A simple waltz, written in 1877 by Arthur de Lulli, that serves as a two-finger exercise for beginner piano players.


fog lamp

(automotive) A bright red lamp (normally one of a pair) at the rear of a motor car that can be switched on during foggy weather so as to avoid collisions from cars approaching from behind

takasumuvalo

a bright red lamp at the rear of a motor car


EG

(music) Initialism of envelope generator.


fuel tank

The main fuel tank is slung from the underframe midway between the two bogies, and its capacity of 420 gal. supplies both the main engine and the train heating boiler.

1950 November, “Mixed-Traffic Diesel-Electric Locomotives for Ireland”, in Railway Magazine, page 781:

A container of fuel, especially one for motor fuel inside a vehicle.


bombardon

From French bombardon, from Italian bombardone.

(music) A brass instrument, the bass version of the tuba.

(music) A bass instrument of the shawm family


OG

(music, US, slang) Initialism of Original Gangsta; a person associated with the earliest era of gangsta rap.


semsemia

Borrowed from Arabic سِمْسِمِيَّة (simsimiyya).

bor

سِمْسِمِيَّة


table lamp

Many will have pleasing recollections of the attractive effect, especially on a winter evening, of a dining car or Pullman train, with its shaded table-lamps throwing their light on napery, cutlery, and glass to give a heartening picture of well-being.

1949 September and October, “The New Tavern Cars”, in Railway Magazine, page 282:


front man

Pete Doherty is the front man of the Libertines.

(music) The lead singer in a musical group.


glass harmonica

en-noun

glass harmonica (plural glass harmonicas)

(music) A musical instrument composed of a series of spinning glass bowls, played with the fingers, invented by Benjamin Franklin.


navy blue

navy blue (countable and uncountable, plural navy blues)

navy blue:


crossfader

(music) A device consisting of two volume controls which control separate records, allowing the DJ to change the source of the sound between the records.


A minor

{\key a\minor a b c'd'e'f'g'a'2}

(music) The minor key with A as its tonic, consisting of the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G.

(music) The minor chord with a root of A.


NG

NG (countable and uncountable, plural NGs)

no good: attested in The Comprehensive Standard Dictionary of the English Language (1909) and in Students’ Edition of a Standard Dictionary of the English Language (1915).

(petrochemistry) Initialism of natural gas.


f-hole

(music) A sound hole, shaped like a lowercase f, through the top surface of a string instrument.


shoegazing

/ˈʃuːɡeɪzɪŋ/

From shoe + gazing, because of the tendency of such performers to look down rather than at the crowd and the heavy use of effect pedals.

"[…]Anyway, correct me if I'm wrong here, Danny, but wasn't it you who told me that true shoegazing began and ended with Slowdive's 12-inch debut: the imaginatively titled, 'Slowdive'?”
“You're taking me out of context here, dude. What I meant was that it was the epoch of the genre. The other bands still made a valid contribution, they just didn't define the moment."

2006, James Buckley, Celebrate Myself, page 12:

Johansson and Sitek started out in more faithful lo-fi style before filtering the songs through an indie-rock sensibility that's equal parts postpunk-gothic, 4AD dreampop, shoegazing drone, and TV on the Radio epicness.

2011, Barney Hoskyns, Lowside of the Road: A Life of Tom Waits, page 491:

Then in 2003, they released Still Electric only on their website; with this album, they'd taken on more of a shoegazing style of rock, similar to Chapterhouse or Catherine Wheel.

2013, Pete Crigler, Majorlabelland And Assorted Oddities, page 91:

(British, music) A subgenre of alternative rock music popularised in early 1990s, characterised by a dreamlike sound making much use of effect pedals, and by a detached or introverted performance style.


arpeggiando

(music) A passage to be played in the style of a harp.


arpeggiando

(music) (To be played) in the style of a harp.


pea soup

pea soup (countable and uncountable, plural pea soups)

A greyish green or dull chartreuse colour, like the colour of pea soup.


bichord

(music) A chord of two notes played at the same time.


bichord

(music, of a musical instrument) Having two strings


bitonality

(music) The simultaneous presence of two keys in a piece of music


semicrome

(music) Alternative form of semicroma (“semiquaver”)


bitonal

(music, of a musical instrument) That has two tonic centres simultaneously


semicroma

semicroma (plural semicromas or semicrome)


buccina

Borrowed from Latin būcina, buccina. Doublet of buisine and posaune.

Coordinate term: buisine

(historical, music) A curved brass instrument used by the Ancient Roman army.


chamber music

(music) A genre of classical music written for a small group of instruments


Hammond organ

From the name of the inventor, Laurens Hammond.

Georgie Fame plays all types of keyboards including electric piano, organ, and Hammond organ.

(music) A type of electronic organ with a highly distinctive sound.


codetta

(music) A brief coda, or a brief segment between the themes of a fugue.


capotasto

From Italian capotasto, from capo (“head”) + tasto (“fret”).

(music) A device, placed across the strings of a fretted instrument such as a guitar, to shorten the strings and thus allow upward transposition without altered fingering


clavicembalo

clavicembalo (plural clavicembalos or clavicembali)

clavicembalos (plural)
clavicembali (plural)

Also we recall that Agnesi's life was bound up with that of a younger sister, Maria Teresa, who is known in the history of music as a composer and pianist, that is, virtuoso on the clavicembalo.

1970, Edna Kramer, The Nature and Growth of Modern Mathematics, Princeton, published 1982, page 706:

He taught me composition and how to improve my playing on the clavicembalo [translating Jnſtrument] and also the harp […].

1999, Mike Mitchell, translating HJC von Grimmelshausen, Simplicissimus, III.17, Dedalus 2016, p. 253

(music, now chiefly historical) A harpsichord.


bell ringer

Inherited from Middle English belringer, belle ringer, bellryngar, belryngere, equivalent to bell + ringer.

A person, especially one of a group, who rings bells.


bemol

From Italian bemolle, from Medieval Latin b mollis (“B-flat”, literally “soft B”).

der

F natural has a Bemol on b. [...] B flat has a Bemol on b and e.

Now B♭, which is ſuppoſed to be repreſented by Nº 6. of the hammers, is the generator of the next modulation or key in the bemol or flat mode, F.

1818, George Jones, History of the Rise and Progress of Music, Theoretical and Practical, page 345:

Sol major has only one dièse for a signature; therefore sol ♭ major must have six bemols; six and one make seven.

1841, Terence Joseph O'Donnelly, The Academy of Elementary Music, page 133:

(music, obsolete) The flat symbol (♭), or a flattened note.


tick-tock

en-verb

tick-tock (third-person singular simple present tick-tocks, present participle tick-tocking, simple past and past participle tick-tocked)

tick-tocks (present singular third-person)
tick-tocking (participle present)
tick-tocked (participle past)
tick-tocked (past)

And so as the clock tick-tocked along at MetLife Stadium on Friday night, the possibility grew into the probability that this frustrating, scoreless quarterfinal between Colombia and Peru would end up in one of those unfortunate, nearly random shootout results.

2016 June 17, Filip Bondy, “Colombia Slumps to Victory Over Peru in Copa América Quarterfinal”, in The New York Times:

To make continual clicking sounds like those of an analog clock; to tick.


tick-tock

Stepping inside from the courtyard, there was silence except for the tick-tock of the antique grandfather clock in the great hall. The hulking cream-and-gray flagstones underfoot had been worn away from centuries of service.

2023 March 22, Ben West, “This 835-Year-Old English Manor Needs Some Modern Love”, in The New York Times:


love song

A song about love; a song that expresses amorous feelings.


clonewheel organ

en-noun

clonewheel organ (plural clonewheel organs)

(music) Any kind of electronic musical instrument which can emulate the sound of any of the tonewheel-based Hammond organs.


electric piano

(music) A type of lightweight piano with electronic pickups to amplify the sound. The strings, or string substitutes, are struck mechanically such that the action is similar to that of a normal piano.


concertato

concertato (countable and uncountable, plural concertatos)

Every piece chosen explored the concept of concertato, the musical equivalent of a conversation in a lively, eclectic social setting: a boisterous pub, perhaps, as the program note suggested.

2008 June 16, Anthony Tommasini, “Can We Talk? Lively Musical Conversations, With a Contemporary Slant”, in New York Times:

(music) An early Baroque genre or style of music in which groups of instruments or voices share a melody, usually in alternation, and almost always over a basso continuo.


concertante

From Italian concertante, originally present participle of concertare (“to form or perform a concert”).

(music) A concert for two or more principal instruments, with orchestral accompaniment.


digital piano

(music) A type of lightweight piano which reproduces the sound of a standard piano by electronic means. The keys are designed to feel like the keys of a real piano, and often to resemble them also.


keyboard bass

(music) An electronic keyboard instrument specifically used to reproduce the bass note range.


tritone

Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin tritonus, itself borrowed from Ancient Greek τρίτονος (trítonos). By surface analysis, tri- + tone.

lbor

/ˈtɹaɪˌtəʊ̯n/

[ˈt̠ɹ̠̊˔ʷaɪˌtʰoʊ̯n]

[ˈt̠͡ʃɹ̠̊˔ʷäɪˌtʰoʊ̯n]

Near-synonyms: augmented fourth, diminished fifth

The tritone has a pitch ratio close to 17:12.

The mini-epic “Seasons in the Abyss,” with its ringing tritone interval at the beginning, its extended solos, its medium tempo, was as close as Slayer got to a groove.

2007 February 17, Ben Ratliff, “For Some Unmellowed Metalheads, Middle Age Is Nothing to Fear”, in New York Times:

(music) An interval of three whole tones.


radioactive dating

en-noun

radioactive dating (usually uncountable, plural radioactive datings)

The process of determining the age of a material by estimating the amount of radioactive decay of one or more radioisotopes present in the material when it was formed.

radioaktiivinen iänmääritys

process of determining age by estimating radioactive decay


countersubject

(music) The secondary melody in contrapuntal music


radiometric dating

radiometric dating (plural radiometric datings)

Perhaps the most significant achievement of radiometric dating over the past two decades has been to provide an absolute calibration, in years, for the traditional sedimentary time scale.

1984, Don L. Eicher, Arcie Lee McAlester, Marcia L. Rottman, The History of the Earth's Crust, Prentice-Hall, page 16:

Radiometric dating of Moon rocks and meteorites has enabled us to determine that the age of the Earth is approximately 4.6 billion years.

1999, Stanley Chernicoff, Haydn A. Fox, Essentials of Geology, Houghton Mifflin, page 150:

For various reasons, we have discarded the radiometric datings obtained in minero-metallurgical regions of Huelva province:[…].

2001, Maria Eugenia Aubet, translated by Mary Turton, The Phoenicians and the West, 2nd edition, Cambridge University Press, page 379:

The first is radiometric dating of meteorites and rocks from the surface of the moon.

2002, Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology, Volume 6, Academic Press, page 639:

radioactive dating
radioactive dating#English


diastematic

en-adj

diastematic (comparative more diastematic, superlative most diastematic)

more diastematic (comparative)
most diastematic (superlative)

(music) Describing a musical notation in which the pitch of a note is represented by its vertical position on the page.


diatonism

(music) The characteristic of being diatonic


diesis

From Ancient Greek δίεσις (díesis, “sending through, the smallest interval in the scale”).

uder

(music) Any of several intervals, smaller than a tone, in ancient Greek music.


overblow

en-verb

overblow (third-person singular simple present overblows, present participle overblowing, simple past overblew, past participle overblown)

overblows (present singular third-person)
overblowing (participle present)
overblew (past)
overblown (participle past)

From Middle English overblowen, equivalent to over- + blow.

The upper octaves of the flute's compass are produced by overblowing.

1909, Leander Jan Bekker, Stokes' Encyclopedia of Music and Musicians:

(transitive, music) To blow a wind instrument (typically a whistle, recorder or flute) hard to produce a higher pitch than usual.

The oboe overblows at the octave; the clarinet at the twelfth.

(intransitive, music) Of a wind instrument, to move from its lower to its higher register.


backpacker

Blacks and Latinos were more likely to be gangsta rappers than backpackers.

2014, Geoff Harkness, Chicago Hustle and Flow: Gangs, Gangsta Rap, and Social Class:

To him the white backpackers are abject, 'safari wiggers' who threaten to undo all his careful work at 'passing' in this culture. With their earnestness and clumsy naiveté they betray the scandalous truth of his posturing.

2017, Patrick Turner, Hip Hop Versus Rap: The Politics of Droppin' Knowledge, page 129:

(music, slang) A fan or performer of backpack rap.


ditone

(obsolete, music) An interval of two tones


crab canon

From the mistaken medieval notion that crabs move backwards.

(music) A contrapuntal composition in which one melody is superimposed on the same melody in reverse


alpha decay

(physics) Radioactive decay by emitting an alpha particle.

阿爾法衰變

radioactive decay by emitting an alpha particle


hexatonic

(music) Describing a mode or scale that has six pitches in an octave.


heptatonic

(music) Describing a mode or scale that has seven pitches in an octave


decuplet

From decuple (“multiply by ten”) + -et (“forming diminutives”).

af

(music) A group of ten notes played in place of four or eight.


enharmonic

From Latin enharmonicus, from Late Latin enarmonius, from Ancient Greek ἐναρμόνιος (enarmónios), from ἐν (en)+ἁρμονία (harmonía).

C sharp is enharmonic to D flat in twelve-tone equal temperament, but in most other tuning systems they are distinct pitches.

(music) Describing two or more identical or almost identical notes that are written differently when in different keys. (Whether they are identical and what the exact equivalences are depends on the tuning used.)

enharmoninen

Describing two or more identical notes that are written differently when in different key

εναρμονικός m, εναρμονική f, εναρμονικό n, ενάρμονος m or f, ενάρμονη f, ενάρμονο n)

(music) Of or pertaining to a tetrachord.


hemiola

Ultimately from Ancient Greek ἡμιόλιος (hēmiólios), "containing one and a half; half as much again; in the ratio of 3:2".

(music) The articulation of two bars in triple time as if they were three bars in duple time.


baglamas

From Greek μπαγλαμάς (baglamás), from Turkish bağlama.

This was the time when the younger cousin of the bouzouki, the baglamas, came into its own – the more easily to be concealed beneath clothing or in a specially designed pocket sewn into an overcoat.

2019, Roderick Beaton, Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation, Penguin, published 2020, page 262:

(music) A plucked stringed instrument, a long-necked bowl lute, played in Greek music and often made of improvised materials; it is a high-pitched and small bouzouki with one string in an octave pair on the lower D and unison pairs on the four highest strings.


split single

(music) A single featuring songs by more than one artist.


zongora

(music) A guitar-like musical instrument of Romania, having originally two strings and now four or five.


reformate

(petrochemistry) The product of a hydrocarbon reforming process; an intermediate in the production of fuels such as gasoline.


coalman

A coal miner (as distinguished from other type of miners).

въглекопач

a coal miner (as distinguished from other type of miners)


cuprous oxide

en-noun

cuprous oxide (usually uncountable, plural cuprous oxides)

copper(I) oxide, with chemical formula Cu₂O. Used as a pigment, fungicide and antifouling ingredient.


igil

(music) A string instrument with a teardrop-shaped body and two strings, played with a bow, originating in Tuvan folk music.


sonata form

(music) A form of classical music consisting of a single movement divided into three main sections, the exposition, development and recapitulation, sometimes followed by a coda.


alpha radiation

(physics) The radiation of alpha particles as a result of radioactive decay.


booder

The term came into the popular vernacular in the jazz scene in 1920's Harlem.

(US, slang, dated, jazz) A catch-all phrase for an object, person, or place.


rapcore

A genre of metal music, incorporating loud guitar riffs mixed with rapping, loud almost-screaming singing and rapid drumming.


grindcore

A genre of death metal music or hardcore punk, incorporating aggressive guitar riffs, extremely rapid drumming and loud, undecipherable screaming.


bioenergy

bioenergy (countable and uncountable, plural bioenergies)

→ Polish: bioenergia

Energy produced from a biological resource such as biomass as biofuel.

生物能源

energy produced from a biological resource


platter

From Middle English plater, from Anglo-Norman plater, dissimilatory variant of platel, from Old French plate (“metal plate”) (see plate). Doublet of plateau.

A main dish and side dishes served together on one plate.


MMA

MIDI Manufacturers Association
w:MIDI Manufacturers Association

(music) Initialism of MIDI Manufacturers Association.


giant star

(astronomy) A star that has stopped fusing hydrogen in its core and as a result has grown much larger and brighter.


fingerpick

en-verb

fingerpick (third-person singular simple present fingerpicks, present participle fingerpicking, simple past and past participle fingerpicked)

fingerpicks (present singular third-person)
fingerpicking (participle present)
fingerpicked (participle past)
fingerpicked (past)

/ˈfɪŋ.ɡə(ɹ)ˌpɪk/

(music) To play a stringed instrument by plucking individual strings with the fingers.


fingerpicking

en-noun

fingerpicking (usually uncountable, plural fingerpickings)

Her largely unadorned sound hinges on scratchy, intimate fingerpickings and her warm Northern Ireland accent — and is a worthy, pensive addition to record shelves already lined with Sharon Van Etten and Damien Rice.

2015 July 9, “Pop & Rock Listings for July 10-16”, in New York Times:

(music) The plucking of the individual strings of a stringed instrument with the fingers


idiophone

Any musical instrument that produces its sound by its own vibration (without any strings or membranes).

idiòfon

any musical instrument that produces its sound by its own vibration


kerchoo

Synonym of achoo, the sound of sneezing.


mensuralist

en-adj

mensuralist (comparative more mensuralist, superlative most mensuralist)

more mensuralist (comparative)
most mensuralist (superlative)

(music) Of or pertaining to mensuralism.


membranophone

(music) Any musical instrument that produces sound via the vibration of a stretched membrane.


mensuralism

(music) European system(s) of musical notation, in use in different forms from c.1260 to c.1600, in which each note was given an exact time value


homorhythmic

homorhythmic (comparative more homorhythmic, superlative most homorhythmic)

more homorhythmic (comparative)
most homorhythmic (superlative)

(music) Having the same rhythm throughout


homorhythm

(music) A style of music that has the same rhythm throughout.


music therapy

en-noun

music therapy (countable and uncountable, plural music therapies)

Any of various supposed therapeutic uses of music.

音樂療法

any of various therapeutic uses of music


neume

From 15th c. Middle English newme, nevme, neme; from Middle French neume, in turn from Medieval Latin neuma or pneuma, either from Ancient Greek πνεῦμα (pneûma, “breath”) or νεῦμα (neûma, “sign”), or else a corruption of πνεῦμα (pneûma, “breath”). Doublet of pneuma.

(music) Any of a set of signs used in early musical notation.

(music) A sequence of notes to be sung to one syllable.


manele

Borrowed from Romanian manele, plural of manea, of Turkish origin.

(music) A genre of folk music from the Balkans


descarga

Jimmy Bosch is a trombonist who savors the Latin jazz tradition of the descarga, a jam session everyone can dance to.

2007 January 12, “Rock/Pop Listings”, in New York Times:

(music) A jam session in the tradition of Cuban music


saxhorn

(music) Any of a group of similar brass instruments, resembling a bugle in shape, but with valves


SNR

(acoustics) Initialism of Single Number Rating, a measure of the efficacy of hearing protection


tabret

(obsolete) A person who plays the tabor.


ponticello

From Italian ponticello (literally “little bridge”).


coquelicot

en-adj

coquelicot (comparative more coquelicot, superlative most coquelicot)

more coquelicot (comparative)
most coquelicot (superlative)

Borrowed from French coquelicot (“red poppy”).

I still venture to retain the narrow silver round it, put twice round without any bow, and instead of the black military feather shall put in the coquelicot one as being smarter, and besides coquelicot is to be all the fashion this winter.

1798, Jane Austen, The Letters (Annotated Edition), Jazzybee Verlag, →ISBN:


recitativo

en-noun

recitativo (plural recitativos or recitativoes)

recitativos (plural)
recitativoes (plural)


music box

A box that generates or plays music, particularly one using mechanical means rather than electronic, generally using a cylinder or disk containing the music.


rebec

From Middle French rebec, alteration of rubebe (see English ribibe), from Arabic رَبَاب (rabāb).

The villages also must have their visitors to enquire what lectures the bagpipe and the rebbeck reads ev'n to the ballatry, and the gammuth of every municipal fidler, for these are the Countrymans Arcadia's and his Monte Mayors.

(music) An early three-stringed instrument, somewhat like a simple violin only pear shaped, played with a bow and used in Medieval and the early Renaissance eras.


psalmody

psalmody (countable and uncountable, plural psalmodies)

Borrowed from Latin psalmōdia, from Koine Greek ψαλμῳδίᾱ (psalmōidíā), from Ancient Greek ψαλμός (psalmós, “psalm”) + ᾠδή (ōidḗ, “song”).

They deserved the enmity of the Pagans; and some of them might deserve the reproaches of avarice and intemperance; of avarice, which they gratified with holy plunder, and of intemperance, which they indulged at the expense of the people, who foolishly admired their tattered garments, loud psalmody, and artificial paleness.

1781, Edward Gibbon, chapter XXVIII, in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume III, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC:

All these strange antics were accompanied by still stranger guttural noises from the devotee, who seemed to be praying in a sing-song or else singing some pagan psalmody or other, during which his face twitched about in the most unnatural manner.

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 3, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

(music, uncountable) The singing or the writing of psalms.

(music, countable) A collection of psalms.


synth rock

(music) Any of several genres of rock music featuring electronic synthesizers


timbric

en-adj

timbric (comparative more timbric, superlative most timbric)

more timbric (comparative)
most timbric (superlative)


violone

Borrowed from Italian violone (“big viola”), from viola + -one (“-oon, forming augmentatives"”).

An early stringed instrument similar to a double bass.


vielle

From Old French viele, vielle. Doublet of viola.

(music) A medieval stringed instrument similar to a violin.


teend

en-verb

teend (third-person singular simple present teends, present participle teending, simple past and past participle teended)

teends (present singular third-person)
teending (participle present)
teended (participle past)
teended (past)

From Middle English tenden, from Old English tendan (“to kindle”). See tinder.


chantant

en-adj

chantant (comparative more chantant, superlative most chantant)

more chantant (comparative)
most chantant (superlative)

(music) Played in a melodious and singsong style.


pyromancer

(fantasy) One who has a magical ability to conjure or control fire.


ternary form

(music) A style of composition in which one contrasting section of music is written between two similar outer sections.


canorous

canorous (comparative more canorous, superlative most canorous)

more canorous (comparative)
most canorous (superlative)


noodler

(music, sometimes derogatory) One who improvises.


treater

I don't know why I do things like that except that sometimes I think that the principal difference between the treater and the treatee is that the treater is in possession of the keys, if only in a symbolic sense […]

2014, Martin Fleishman, The Casebook of a Residential Care Psychiatrist, page 58:

A vessel used to treat oil-water emulsions by any of several mechanisms so that the oil can be accepted by the pipeline or transport.


API unit

From API (“American Petroleum Institute”).

The radioactivity of a typical shale is 100 API units.

(oil industry) A unit of radioactivity used for measuring natural gamma rays in the ground.


chorus line

A line of performers in a revue or other show, dancing in unison.

芭蕾舞團

a line of performers in a revue or other show, dancing in unison


API gravity

en-noun

API gravity (countable and uncountable, plural API gravities)

(oil industry) A specific gravity scale measuring the relative density of various petroleum liquids, expressed in degrees.

grau API

density of petroleum liquid relative to water


hoquet

hoquet (countable and uncountable, plural hoquets)


gitarrist

what the fuck do i care about some heavy metal poser jackass hardrock gitarrist?

1996 April 2, Johann Jacoby, “Abo Joke and Nigger Joke”, in alt.skinheads (Usenet), retrieved 2022-05-12:

GUITAR SPEAK ('No Speak' Label, Cat No EIRSA 1025)
An instrumental sampler only with gitarrists. Tony Iommi appears with one track called 'Miranha' which means 'Goddess Of Death'.

1998 May 11, jourg...@hotmail.com, “The Black Sabbath FAQ v1.00 [large] pt 4”, in alt.music.black-sabbath (Usenet), retrieved 2022-05-12:

Hallo Gitarrists.

1998 December 31, Jerry Manley, “Guitar-Pro”, in alt.guitar.tab (Usenet), retrieved 2022-05-12:

Anybody will tell you that Mr. Green has influnced^([sic]) many many great current gitarrists including Carlos Santana, Jeff Beck ,Mick taylor Steve Morse and the late great Mike Bloomfield , ammong^([sic]) others .

1999 July 4, victor m mora, “Fleetwood Mac,”, in alt.music.deep-purple (Usenet), retrieved 2022-05-12:

do country gitarrists use wah-wah pedals. I saw just a few weeks ago Rock-gitarrists using all the same wah-wah pedal 'cry baby'. Is it the best? And what's about pedal-steel, is it done with the volume pedal.

2000 May 3, Roland Mueller VS/ESH3 #49458, “Do country gitarrists use wah-wah”, in alt.guitar.effects (Usenet), retrieved 2022-05-12:

Yes, the solo shows what a fine rock-gitarrist Ritchie could be :-(

2001 August 14, Karl-Heinz Baier, “Fires at Midnight solo”, in alt.music.deep-purple (Usenet), retrieved 2022-05-12:

Would you post the lyrics to that song? I also wrote a song about unicycling... well there are two at the moment. Punk-Songs (Hmm, Unipunk :D). So, when we make it into a studio I will post them here, too. First I guess we have some accoustic^([sic]) version ready. I recently finished with the second song and our gitarrist is on the rythm^([sic]) (I'm the drummer, chaos and that haha *g*).

2006 October 2, gossi, “A Unicycle Song..LISTEN TO IT!!!”, in rec.sport.unicycling (Usenet), retrieved 2022-05-12:

(non-native speakers' English) Misspelling of guitarist.


spatial unmasking

The localization of sound by angular sources.


dayereh

From Persian دایره (dâyere), from Arabic دَائِرَة (dāʔira). Doublet of daerah.

(music) A large Central Asian frame drum with jingles attached, a type of tambourine.


diamond ring

(astronomy) An optical phenomenon visible during a moment of a solar eclipse when only a tiny part of the sun is not obscured by the moon, shining like a diamond in the ring of the sun’s corona.

鑽石環

optical phenomenon during a solar eclipse


bourrée

A baroque dance of French origin, common in Auvergne and Biscay in Spain in the 17th century.


pardessus

(music) A pardessus de viole; a bowed stringed instrument with a fretted neck and five or six strings, the highest pitched member of the viol family.


(music) A 440 Hertz musical pitch, which serves as the tuning standard for the note A above middle C in concert pitch.


Neginoth

Borrowed from Biblical Hebrew נְגִינוֹת (nəḡīnōṯ), plural of נְגִינָה (nəḡīnā, “playing of music on a stringed instrument”).

To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm of David. Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer. (Psalms 4:1, WBS)

To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm or Song. God be merciful to us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us. Selah (Psalms 67:1, WBS)

More Psalms with Neginoth: 6, 54, 55, 61, 76.

(Jewish music) A direction for the musical accompaniment of a psalm that has been interpreted as "stringed instruments".


RTG

radioisotope thermoelectric generator
w:radioisotope thermoelectric generator

Initialism of radioisotope thermoelectric generator (a device that generates electricity from the natural decay of radioactive material).


black as coal

I wanna see it painted / painted black / black as night / black as coal

1966, The Rolling Stones (lyrics and music), “Paint It, Black”, in Aftermath:


koncovka

A kind of overtone fipple flute with no finger holes from Slovakia.


oil refining

The industrial process of converting crude oil into petroleum and other useful products


indane

indane (countable and uncountable, plural indanes)

(organic chemistry, petrochemistry) A bicyclic hydrocarbon consisting of a benzene ring fused to that of cyclopentane; it, and its derivatives, are found in petroleum


CW

CW (countable and uncountable, plural CWs)

country and western
country and western#English

(music) Initialism of country and western.


alap

The alaap is the part of our classical music that I like best. It is an inward voyage, an odyssey into the unknown.

1997, Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold, HarperCollins, published 2013, page 176:

(music) The opening, improvised section of a Classical raga performance, before the formal recitation.


butter lamp

A lamp that is a common feature of Tibetan Buddhist temples and monasteries throughout the Himalayas.


compact fluorescent lamp

compact fluorescent lamp (plural compact fluorescent lamps)

A type of fluorescent lamp (that may or may not contain mercury).


carbide lamp

A simple lamp that produces and burns acetylene (C₂H₂) created by the reaction of calcium carbide (CaC₂) with water.


plasma lamp

A kind of gas-discharge lamp: a clear glass container, often an orb, filled with a mixture of various noble gases at low pressure, and driven by high frequency alternating current at high voltage.

lampe à plasma

a clear glass container, filled with a mixture of various gases at low pressure


lampion

From French lampion, from Italian lampione, from lampa.


khene

There are processions led by dancers with castanets and accompanied by musicians playing the Kène.

1951, Norman Lewis, A Dragon Apparent, Eland, published 2003, page 296:

The khene was once used to call warriors to fight. Now it is used for ceremonies.

1997, Dolly Brittan, The Hmong, Rosen Publishing, published 1997, page 32:

The Lao khaen, however, is the most sophisticated of all the bamboo mouth organs – it takes great skill to play it properly.

2000, Simon Broughton et al., The Rough Guide to World Music, Rough Guides, page 171:

I then suggested that he should play a tune on the khène while I improvised an accompaniment on the ukelele.

2001, Mervyn Brown, War in Shangri-La, Radcliffe, published 2001, page 155:

(music) A traditional musical instrument of Laos, being a type of bamboo mouth organ.


bandmate

Someone with whom one shares membership in a band.

Bandmitglied

someone with whom one shares membership in a band


anti-folk

A style of music derived from folk music but with a self-mocking or ironic twist.


taan

Her voice was steady as a surgeon's hand. When it zigzagged, it was because she wanted to take a taan that slithered like a snake as it flashed past, progressing sideways across the sand.

1997, Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold, HarperCollins, published 2013, page 147:

(music) A rapid melodic vocal technique in raga singing.


pyrocumulus

(volcanology, meteorology) A dense cloud associated with fire or volcanic activity.


third-degree

The jury found him guilty of third-degree murder since he had only meant to beat the clown, not to kill him.

At the third level of some system, particularly:

(law) The least severe level of felony, typically involving a lack of planning and/or the presence of various mitigating factors.

(of burns) An extremely severe level of damage, typically involving major scarring and damage to subcutaneous tissue as well as the epidermis.


come in

en-verb

come in (third-person singular simple present comes in, present participle coming in, simple past came in, past participle come in)

comes in (present singular third-person)
coming in (participle present)
came in (past)
come in (participle past)

From Middle English com in, imperative form of Middle English incomen (“to come in; enter”), from Old English incuman (“to come in; enter”), from Proto-Germanic *inkwemaną (“to come in; enter”), equivalent to come + in. Compare Dutch kom in (“come in”), singular imperative form of inkomen (“to come in; enter”), German einkommen (“to come in; enter”). See also income, incoming.

inh

They started together, but the drummer came in late.

(music) To join or enter; to begin playing with a group.


alkanet

en-noun

alkanet (countable and uncountable, plural alkanets)

Sanguinaria canadensis
Sanguinaria canadensis#Translingual


languente

en-adv

languente (comparative more languente, superlative most languente)

more languente (comparative)
most languente (superlative)

Italian, present participle of languire. See languish.

(music) In a languishing manner; pathetically.


diuranate

(inorganic chemistry) The dibasic anion U₂O₇²⁻ or any salt containing this anion


uranate

/ˈjʊəɹəneɪt/

(inorganic chemistry) Any of several oxyanions of uranium; any salt containing these anions.


latrate

en-verb

latrate (third-person singular simple present latrates, present participle latrating, simple past and past participle latrated)

latrates (present singular third-person)
latrating (participle present)
latrated (participle past)
latrated (past)

From Latin lātrātus (“barked”) taken as a verb via English -ate, from Latin lātrāre (“to bark”). Compare Spanish ladrar (“to bark”). First attested in 1623, originally seemingly as a ghost word.

Latrate, to barke like a dog.

[1623, Henry Cockeram, The English Dictionarie Of 1623, New York: Huntington Press, published 1930, s.v., page 110:

I once saw a big dog plunging out furiously at a passing car, and, as I watched him, his gait looked peculiar. The reason for this eccentricity became clear when he returned from his latrating orgy: he had only three legs.

1928, Charles Hall Grandgent, Prunes and Prism: With Other Odds and Ends, page 145:

[…] Rip ought to know there wasn’t a beggar’s chance of catching one of the birds; all the silly, latrating dogs thus showed off.

1931, Harry Kemp, Love Among the Cape Enders, page 91:

With everything boiling over; with everyone rapping, yakking or latrating, it would restore dignity to a number of America’s newspapers if the objectivity of their reporting would harden in direct proportion to the subjectivity of the story being reported.

1972, Max Wylie, 400 Miles from Harlem: Courts, Crime, and Correction, page 201:


olivaceous-umber

en-adj

olivaceous-umber (comparative more olivaceous-umber, superlative most olivaceous-umber)

more olivaceous-umber (comparative)
most olivaceous-umber (superlative)

olivaceous-umber:

Having the color of a green olive with a brown tint.


olivaceous

olivaceous (comparative more olivaceous, superlative most olivaceous)

more olivaceous (comparative)
most olivaceous (superlative)

olivaceous:


gentian violet

en-noun

gentian violet (countable and uncountable, plural gentian violets)

(chemistry) Also known as crystal violet, a chemical dye used in the Gram stain test, and is also a fungicide. Chemically: hexamethyl pararosaniline chloride, C₂₅H₃₀ClN₃


nuclear waste

nuclear waste (countable and uncountable, plural nuclear wastes)

The more or less radioactive waste produced by nuclear reactors and others.


closed system

(thermodynamics) A system that can exchange heat and work, but not matter, with its surroundings.


coal mine

A mine from which coal ore or coal minerals are mined.


copedant

Pedal steel player Tom Bradshaw coined the term in the 1970s, as an abbreviation for chord-pedal arrangement.

(music, rare) The setup of a pedal steel guitar: the tuning plus pedal and knee lever pitch changes.


AM pop

Music, especially rock music ballads and crossover material, played on top 40-formatted AM radio stations, especially during the 1970s.


fire load

The anticipated amount of wildfire control necessary in a given period and region, based on the number of current fires, the probable number of new fires, and their anticipated intensity.


moon landing

Throughout our discussions and searching inquiries one object figured ever more prominently—the moon. We learned that it was technologically possible to develop a program to reach the moon, and we came to realize that since the Russians did not then have the ability to reach the moon any more than we did, we had at least a fifty-fifty chance of beating them there. Moreover, a moon-landing goal would give a dramatic focus to a space program designed to develop our skills and capacities on a broad technological front.

[1971, Lyndon Johnson, The Vantage Point, Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 281:

The safe arrival of a spacecraft on the surface of the moon.


session band

She performed on 12 albums as a soul singer in a session band before she was able to begin her solo career.

A group of musicians who play for the recording of an album but are not considered part of the recording artist's normal band.


vibraslap

A percussion instrument, descendant of the jawbone, made of stiff wire connecting a wood ball to a block of wood with metal teeth inside, which when struck, creates a rattling sound.


Liebestod

From German Liebestod, from Liebe (“love”) + Tod (“death”).

She saw how his jaw began to slaver and the room was full of the clamour of the forest's Liebestod but the wise child never flinched […]

1979, Angela Carter, “The Company of Wolves”, in The Bloody Chamber, Vintage, published 2006, page 138:

(music, literature) An aria or duet performed in opera marking the suicide of lovers; a suicide.


pipework

pipework (usually uncountable, plural pipeworks)

(music) The pipes and stops of an organ.


yodeller

(British) Alternative spelling of yodeler


sulibao

A Philippine musical instrument that looks like a drum. It is played by tapping it.


crotale

In contrast to the cymbals of beaten metal, the British Museum collection includes several pairs of cast crotales. Strictly speaking, crotales are metal castanets, resembling cymbals. A pair of bronze crotales (from Thebes c. 200 BC) with large central boss and upturned rim, measure 2⁷/₁₆ inches in diameter, a thickness of approximately ¹/₈ inch, and a weight of 1³/₄ ozs.

1970, James Blades, Percussion Instruments and Their History, published 1992, page 167:

Orchestrally, however, crotales and antique cymbals are virtually synonymous, the only difference being that strictly speaking crotales are thicker and less finely wrought and unlike antique cymbals are not held freely in the hands.

1983, Norman Del Mar, Anatomy of the Orchestra, page 420:

Tension gradually mounts through the instrumental section as the dynamics build to a climactic point at bar 69 (5.12): the first occasion on which we hear the double-bass player strike the crotale - tuned, of course, to g³, the note identified by Harvey as the ‘death note’.

2009, Michael Downes, Jonathan Harvey: Song Offerings and White As Jasmine, page 69:

(music, usually in the plural) A percussion instrument of archaic origin, resembling a metal castanet or cymbal.


HEU

highly-enriched uranium
highly-enriched uranium#English


LEU

LEU (countable and uncountable, plural LEUs)

low-enriched uranium
low-enriched uranium#English

(nuclear) Initialism of low-enriched uranium.


SEU

SEU (countable and uncountable, plural SEUs)

slightly-enriched uranium
slightly-enriched uranium#English

Initialism of slightly-enriched uranium.


low-enriched uranium

(nuclear physics) Enriched uranium with at least 2% but less than 20% uranium-235, enough to sustain a nuclear fission chain reaction in a nuclear reactor moderated by light water but not enough to allow a self-sustaining fission chain reaction without a moderator; used as the main nuclear fuel in most commercial nuclear reactors used to generate electricity.


cendrée

grey:

(heraldry, rare) Grey, ashen; the blazoning term for grey.


duranguense

From Spanish el pasito duranguense, from Durango, a state in northwestern Mexico.

The two-stage festival's lineup reads like a who's who of norteño, duranguense and banda sinaloense acts, including Los Tigres del Norte, Banda el Recodo, Conjunto Primavera, Los Tucanes de Tijuana and K-Paz de la Sierra.

2010 April 17, Ayala Ben-Yehuda, “Field of Dreams: Vive Grupero Festival Snares Regional Mexican Artists For Free”, in Billboard, volume 122, number 15, page 8:

(music) A genre of Mexican music related to banda and norteño, emerged in the 2000s.


Maunder minimum

Maunder minimum (plural Maunder minimums or Maunder minima)

Maunder minimums (plural)
Maunder minima (plural)

(astronomy) A period similar to the Maunder Minimum observed on a star other than the Sun.


Lydian

And all the while sweet Musicke did diuide / Her looser notes with Lydian harmony […]

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

(music) Designating a mode of ancient Greek music, reputed to be light and effeminate.


ring out

en-verb

ring out (third-person singular simple present rings out, present participle ringing out, simple past rang out, past participle rung out)

rings out (present singular third-person)
ringing out (participle present)
rang out (past)
rung out (participle past)

The objective of ringing-out a system is (believe it or not) to get as many frequencies as possible to ring at the same time as the system goes past its gain-before-feedback limit.

1996, Scott Hunter Stark, Live Sound Reinforcement, page 110:

I've got to get these mic lines set up and ringed out.

2017, Hayden Nicholas, Rock Bottom, page 43:

(sound engineering) To equalize a sound system to eliminate feedback.


chemiexcitation

en-noun

chemiexcitation (countable and uncountable, plural chemiexcitations)

(physical chemistry) The generation of an electronically excited molecule by a chemical reaction of reactants in their ground state

χημειοδιέγερση

The generation an of an electronically excited molecule by a chemical reaction


photochemist

(chemistry) A chemist who works in photochemistry


Blockflöte

(music) Alternative form of block flute.


semiclassical

en-adj

semiclassical (comparative more semiclassical, superlative most semiclassical)

more semiclassical (comparative)
most semiclassical (superlative)

(music) Describing classical music of broad, popular appeal


superradiance

(physics) The cooperative enhancement of spontaneous emission by constructive interatomic interference, producing an incoherent form of radiation.


ANFO

ammonium nitrate
ammonium nitrate#English

Initialism of ammonium nitrate fuel oil: an explosive made from ammonium nitrate fertilizer and fuel oil.

硝安油剤爆薬

しょうあんゆざいばくやく


plutonium dioxide

(inorganic chemistry) The yellow-brown solid, PuO₂, formed by the spontaneous oxidation of plutonium metal; it is used in mixed oxide fuel for nuclear reactors


mixed oxide

(inorganic chemistry) Any mixture of the oxides of more than one metal, but especially the blend of plutonium and uranium oxides that is used (as MOX fuel) in nuclear reactors


cosmic latte

cosmic latte:

We just can't leave God out of our lives even if there isn't the slightest possibility that an anthropomorphic God exists that can stand outside the universe and look on the cosmic latte color and see us.

2003, Frederick Kramer, Thickets of Qualia, page 208:

Between the walls, which have been redone a univeige, a cosmic latte shade—the floors have similarly been buffed of my traces.

2016, Joshua Cohen, Book of Numbers, page 8:

A creamy white color calculated to be the average color of the universe.


instrumentals

(music) The backing track of a song. The audio of a song without the vocal track.