hornpipe

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a lively traditional solo dance associated especially with sailors

   The actor crossed the stage dancing a hornpipe.

2. 2
   noun

   music in a lively rhythm composed for this dance

   The fiddler launched into a brisk hornpipe.

3. 3
   noun

   an old wind instrument with a wooden pipe and a bell traditionally made of horn

   The musician demonstrated a reconstructed hornpipe.

From Middle English hornpipe, a compound of horn and pipe. The instrument was named for its horn bell; its name later passed to the dance and to the music played for it.

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