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Aeolian harp   Listen
noun
Harp  n.  
1.
A musical instrument consisting of a triangular frame furnished with strings and sometimes with pedals, held upright, and played with the fingers.
2.
(Astron.) A constellation; Lyra, or the Lyre.
3.
A grain sieve. (Scot.)
Aeolian harp. See under Aeolian.
Harp seal (Zool.), an arctic seal (Phoca Groenlandica). The adult males have a light-colored body, with a harp-shaped mark of black on each side, and the face and throat black. Called also saddler, and saddleback. The immature ones are called bluesides; their fur is white, and they are killed and skinned to harvest the fur.
Harp shell (Zool.), a beautiful marine gastropod shell of the genus Harpa, of several species, found in tropical seas. See Harpa.



adjective
AEolian  adj.  
1.
Of or pertaining to AEolia or AEolis, in Asia Minor, colonized by the Greeks, or to its inhabitants; aeolic; as, the AEolian dialect.
2.
Pertaining to AEolus, the mythic god of the winds; aerial. "Viewless forms the aeolian organ play."
3.
Relating to or caused by wind; as, aeolian erosion.
AEolian attachment, a contrivance often attached to a pianoforte, which prolongs the vibrations, increases the volume of sound, etc., by forcing a stream of air upon the strings.
AEolian harp, AEolian lyre, a musical instrument consisting of a box, on or in which are stretched strings, on which the wind acts to produce the notes; usually placed at an open window.
AEolian mode (Mus.), one of the ancient Greek and early ecclesiastical modes.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Aeolian harp" Quotes from Famous Books



... heard the sound of some instrument like a mandolin or a zither," said Elinor. "It was just one strain, almost as if the wind had blown over an aeolian harp." ...
— The Motor Maids at Sunrise Camp • Katherine Stokes

... they wish for railroad cars. They ride upon the shooting stars: Firmly unite them in a train, And skim along the aerial plain; No locomotive do they need, For their own will propels their speed. The Aeolian harp, with plaintive wail, Sighs responsive to each gale; Its chords are strung 'mid branching trees, And echo to ev'ry passing breeze; Gently they vibrate through the grove, Touching the chords of life and ...
— Withered Leaves from Memory's Garland • Abigail Stanley Hanna

... Ger. Aolsharfe, Windharfe; Ital. arpa d'Eolo), a stringed musical instrument, whose name is derived from Aeolus, god of the wind. The aeolian harp consists of a sound-box about 3 ft long, 5 in. wide, and 3 in. deep, made of thin deal, or preferably of pine, and having beech ends to hold the tuning-pins and hitch-pins. A dozen or less catgut strings of different thickness, but tuned in exact unison, and left rather slack, ...
— Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia

... was blowing, and, as Phil spoke, it had stirred the loose strings of the rude Aeolian harp, and a slight melodious sound had arisen, which Phil had thought so beautiful. He drew his breath even more softly, lest he should lose the least tone, and finding that Lisa was really asleep, propped himself up higher on his pillows, and gazed out ...
— Prince Lazybones and Other Stories • Mrs. W. J. Hays

... with curiosity in her eyes, and with her firm little mouth pouted up to a puzzled shape. On reaching the mossy mill- head she found that he had fixed in the keen damp draught which always prevailed over the wheel an AEolian harp of large size. At present the strings were partly covered with a cloth. He lifted it, and the wires began to emit a weird harmony which mingled curiously with the plashing of ...
— The Trumpet-Major • Thomas Hardy


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