barrel organ

bar·rel or·gan

B b

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [bar-uh l awr-guh n]
- /ˈbær əl ˈɔr gən/
- /ˈbær.əl ˈɔːɡən/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [bar-uh l awr-guh n]
- /ˈbær əl ˈɔr gən/

Definitions of barrel organ words

countable noun barrel organ A barrel organ is a large machine that plays music when you turn the handle on the side. Barrel organs used to be played in the street to entertain people. 3
noun barrel organ an instrument consisting of a cylinder turned by a handle and having pins on it that interrupt the air flow to certain pipes, thereby playing any of a number of tunes 3
noun barrel organ a similar instrument in which the projections on a rotating barrel pluck a set of strings 3
noun barrel organ a mechanical musical instrument having a cylinder studded with pins which open pipe valves or strike metal tongues when the cylinder is revolved, producing a tune; hand organ 3
noun barrel organ a musical instrument in which air from a bellows is admitted to a set of pipes by means of pins inserted into a revolving barrel; hand organ. 1
noun barrel organ mechanical organ played by street musician 1

See all 7 definitions of barrel organ

Information block about the term

Origin of barrel organ

First appearance:

before 1765

One of the 46% newest English words

First recorded in 1765-75

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Barrel organ

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Barrel organ

barrel organ popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 37% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

According to our data about 60% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.

barrel organ usage trend in Literature

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