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glass harmonica
noun
: a musical instrument consisting of a series of rotating glass bowls of differing sizes played by touching the dampened edges with a finger
Examples of glass harmonica in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The mix of electric instruments, like the electric piano, the electric bass and, at the same time, the glass harmonica and the castrati.
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Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 3 Feb. 2023
The glockenspiel, the celesta, the glass harmonica, the piano, the fender piano, the electric bass.
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Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 3 Feb. 2023
Her voice, haloed in the eerie whistle of a glass harmonica, is an expression of rapture and fragility filtered through an inexorable discipline.
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Vulture, 25 Apr. 2022
Only the glass harmonica and Crystal Baschet for the Blue Fairy deviated from that rule.
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Jon Burlingame, Variety, 4 Dec. 2022
Across from the church on the Paul Revere Mall, a small crowd huddled around a table beneath a tree, listening to a woman tease music out of a glass harmonica.
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BostonGlobe.com, 4 July 2021
About 10 years later, Benjamin Franklin—one of the founding fathers of the United States—invented a mechanical version of the glass harp, called the glass harmonica.
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Science Buddies, Scientific American, 26 Nov. 2015
Ethereal notes of a glass harmonica, its sound resembling that of clinking glasses, tinkled as incense wafted through the air.
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National Geographic, 5 Mar. 2019
Playing vocal tag with the eerie glass harmonica, lying on her back to sing a vocalise of erotic ecstasy, her voice bloomed with radiant allure, and Lucia was herself at last.
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Heidi Waleson, WSJ, 28 Sep. 2018
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Word History
First Known Use
1913, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near glass harmonica
Cite this Entry
“Glass harmonica.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/glass%20harmonica. Accessed 7 Feb. 2025.
More from Merriam-Webster on glass harmonica
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about glass harmonica
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