flute

[ floot ]
See synonyms for flute on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a musical wind instrument consisting of a tube with a series of fingerholes or keys, in which the wind is directed against a sharp edge, either directly, as in the modern transverse flute, or through a flue, as in the recorder.

  2. an organ stop with wide flue pipes, having a flutelike tone.

  1. Architecture, Furniture. a channel, groove, or furrow, as on the shaft of a column.

  2. any groove or furrow, as in a ruffle of cloth or on a piecrust.

  3. one of the helical grooves of a twist drill.

  4. a slender, footed wineglass of the 17th century, having a tall, conical bowl.

  5. a similar stemmed glass, used especially for champagne.

verb (used without object),flut·ed, flut·ing.
  1. to produce flutelike sounds.

  2. to play on a flute.

  1. (of a metal strip or sheet) to kink or break in bending.

verb (used with object),flut·ed, flut·ing.
  1. to utter in flutelike tones.

  2. to form longitudinal flutes or furrows in: to flute a piecrust.

Origin of flute

1
1350–1400; Middle English floute<Middle French flaüte, flahute, fleüte<Old Provençal flaüt (perhaps alteration of flaujol, flauja) <Vulgar Latin *flabeolum.See flageolet, lute1

Other words from flute

  • flutelike, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use flute in a sentence

  • Within a short time their flutelike, quivering voice is heard far and wide.

    The Meaning of Evolution | Samuel Christian Schmucker
  • They listened to the bird's flutelike piping, standing closely linked in the shadow of a little group of pines.

    The Lamp in the Desert | Ethel M. Dell
  • Hawke's murmured astonishment was at once cut short by the decisive notes of Berthe Louison's flutelike voice.

    A Fascinating Traitor | Richard Henry Savage
  • The boy's flutelike voice has its own spring charm; but the man should yield a richer deeper music.

    Adam Bede | George Eliot
  • Large, melting eyes; an angelic smile; and a voice of flutelike quality which was literally enchanting.

    Autobiography of a YOGI | Paramhansa Yogananda

British Dictionary definitions for flute

flute

/ (fluːt) /


noun
  1. a wind instrument consisting of an open cylindrical tube of wood or metal having holes in the side stopped either by the fingers or by pads controlled by keys. The breath is directed across a mouth hole cut in the side, causing the air in the tube to vibrate. Range: about three octaves upwards from middle C

  2. any pipe blown directly on the principle of a flue pipe, either by means of a mouth hole or through a fipple

  1. architect a rounded shallow concave groove on the shaft of a column, pilaster, etc

  2. a groove or furrow in cloth, etc

  3. a tall narrow wineglass

  4. anything shaped like a flute

verb
  1. to produce or utter (sounds) in the manner or tone of a flute

  2. (tr) to make grooves or furrows in

Origin of flute

1
C14: from Old French flahute, via Old Provençal, from Vulgar Latin flabeolum (unattested); perhaps also influenced by Old Provençal laut lute; see flageolet

Derived forms of flute

  • flutelike, adjective
  • fluty, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for flute

flute

A high-pitched woodwind, held horizontally by the player and played by blowing across a hole.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.