JEW'S-HARP • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Jew's-harp

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noun

Jew's-harp n.

An instrument of music, which, when placed between the teeth, gives, by means of a bent metal tongue struck by the finger, a sound which is modulated by the breath; called also Jew's-trump.

(Naut.) The shackle for joining a chain cable to an anchor.

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Etymology of 'Jew's-harp'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Jew's-harp" Quotes from Famous Books

... horizontal limb, as he took his part in the lagging talk. Hidden by the foliage in the thick of the tree, in a three-pronged seat, Bud Perkins reclined, his features drawn into a painful grimace, as his right hand passed to and fro before his mouth, rhythmically twanging the tongue of a Jew's-harp, upon which he was playing "To My Sweet Sunny South Take Me Home." He breathed heavily and irregularly. His eyes were on the big white clouds in the blue sky, and his heart was filled with the poetry of lonesomeness ...

— The Court of Boyville • William Allen White

... Dodge, there, will tell you it is making up its mind which way it ought to blow, to be popular; so, as we have nothing better to do, Mr. Effingham, I will tell you the story about my neighbour, the horse-jockey. Hauling yards when there is no wind, is like playing on a Jew's-Harp, at a concert ...

— Homeward Bound - or, The Chase • James Fenimore Cooper