| barrel organ | |
| —n | |
| 1. | See also hurdy-gurdy 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 |
| 2. | a similar instrument in which the projections on a rotating barrel pluck a set of strings |
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
| a gadget; dingus; thingumbob. |
barrel organ
musical instrument in which a pinned barrel turned by a handle raises levers, admitting wind to one or more ranks of organ pipes; the handle simultaneously actuates the bellows. Ten or more tunes can be set on one barrel
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