piccolo

[ pik-uh-loh ]

noun,plural pic·co·los.
  1. a small flute sounding an octave higher than the ordinary flute.

Origin of piccolo

1
1855–60; <Italian: literally, small

Words Nearby piccolo

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

How to use piccolo in a sentence

  • Cosimo could only pipe—one little note, high and thin as that of a piccolo.

    A Crooked Mile | Oliver Onions

British Dictionary definitions for piccolo

piccolo

/ (ˈpɪkəˌləʊ) /


nounplural -los
  1. a woodwind instrument, the smallest member of the flute family, lying an octave above that of the flute: See flute (def. 1)

Origin of piccolo

1
C19: from Italian: small; compare English petty, French petit

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 piccolo

piccolo

[ (pik-uh-loh) ]


A small, high-pitched flute.

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.