hurdy-gurdy

[ hur-dee-gur-dee, -gur- ]

noun,plural hur·dy-gur·dies.
  1. a barrel organ or similar musical instrument played by turning a crank.

  2. a lute- or guitar-shaped stringed musical instrument sounded by the revolution against the strings of a rosined wheel turned by a crank.

Origin of hurdy-gurdy

1
1740–50; variant of Scots hirdy-girdy uproar, influencedby hurly-burly

Other words from hurdy-gurdy

  • hurdy-gurdist, hur·dy-gur·dy·ist, noun

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British Dictionary definitions for hurdy-gurdy

hurdy-gurdy

/ (ˈhɜːdɪˈɡɜːdɪ) /


nounplural -dies
  1. any mechanical musical instrument, such as a barrel organ

  2. a medieval instrument shaped like a viol in which a rosined wheel rotated by a handle sounds the strings

Origin of hurdy-gurdy

1
C18: rhyming compound, probably of imitative origin

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