flute

[floot] /flut/
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.
3.
Architecture, Furniture. a channel, groove, or furrow, as on the shaft of a column.
4.
any groove or furrow, as in a ruffle of cloth or on a piecrust.
5.
one of the helical grooves of a twist drill.
6.
a slender, footed wineglass of the 17th century, having a tall, conical bowl.
7.
a similar stemmed glass, used especially for champagne.
verb (used without object), fluted, fluting.
8.
to produce flutelike sounds.
9.
to play on a flute.
10.
(of a metal strip or sheet) to kink or break in bending.
verb (used with object), fluted, fluting.
11.
to utter in flutelike tones.
12.
to form longitudinal flutes or furrows in:
to flute a piecrust.
Origin
1350-1400; Middle English floute < Middle French flaüte, flahute, fleüte < Old Provençal flaüt (perhaps alteration of flaujol, flauja) < Vulgar Latin *flabeolum. See flageolet, lute
Related forms
flutelike, adjective
Examples from the web for flute
  • It has been a busy week for fans of contemporary flute music.
  • The charmer's flute entices the cobra by its shape and movement, not by the music it emits.
  • And in the middle of this room was a guy wearing no clothes, shivering, playing the flute.
  • Other robot dolls are available to serve tea, perform somersaults, and play the flute.
  • Rather, it is watching and matching the movement of the flute.
  • Guitar, drum, flute and singing combined in a hauntingly melodic paean to these hallowed grounds.
  • Athletes jumped from a standing start, and it was done to flute music.
  • In my opinion, if computer bulletin boards are jazz, they are a particularly simple form where everyone plays the nose flute.
  • The bird, perched unblinking on a low branch not ten feet away, hooted a rising scale as if whistling through a slide flute.
  • For example no one has ever exhorted me to go play the flute for charity, or use yoga to sent spiritual messages to the world.
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
3.
(architect) a rounded shallow concave groove on the shaft of a column, pilaster, etc
4.
a groove or furrow in cloth, etc
5.
a tall narrow wineglass
6.
anything shaped like a flute
verb
7.
to produce or utter (sounds) in the manner or tone of a flute
8.
(transitive) to make grooves or furrows in
Derived Forms
flutelike, adjective
fluty, adjective
Word Origin
C14: from Old French flahute, via Old Provençal, from Vulgar Latin flabeolum (unattested); perhaps also influenced by Old Provençal laut lute; see flageolet
Word Origin and History for flute
n.

early 14c., from Old French flaute (12c.), from Old Provençal flaut, of uncertain origin, perhaps imitative or from Latin flare "to blow;" perhaps influenced by Provençal laut "lute." The other Germanic words (cf. German flöte) are likewise borrowings from French.

Ancient flutes were blown through a mouthpiece, like a recorder; the modern transverse or German flute developed 18c. The older style then sometimes were called flûte-a-bec (French, literally "flute with a beak"). The modern design and key system of the concert flute were perfected 1834 by Theobald Boehm. The architectural sense of "furrow in a pillar" (1650s) is from fancied resemblance to the inside of a flute split down the middle. Meaning "tall, slender wine glass" is from 1640s.

v.

late 14c., "to play upon the flute," from flute (n.). Meaning "to make (architectural) flutes" is from 1570s. Related: Fluted; fluting.

flute in Culture

flute definition


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

Slang definitions & phrases for flute

flute

noun

A male homosexual

Related Terms

play the skin flute, skin flute

[1940s+; fr metaphor of flute as ''penis,'' and a homosexual as one who plays the skin flute]


flute in the Bible

a musical instrument, probably composed of a number of pipes, mentioned Dan. 3:5, 7, 10, 15. In Matt. 9:23, 24, notice is taken of players on the flute, here called "minstrels" (but in R.V. "flute-players"). Flutes were in common use among the ancient Egyptians.