Meaning of barrel organ | Babel Free

Definitions

A musical instrument in which air from a bellows is admitted to a set of pipes by means of pins inserted into a revolving barrel (typically turned by a crank), originating in France.

Equivalents

Examples

“Poor Mrs. Cranch was bulky, and, breathing asthmatically, had the additional motive for making her remarks unexceptionable and giving them a general bearing, that even her whispers were loud and liable to sudden bursts like those of a deranged barrel-organ.”

“Ragged children played in the road, and an old barrel-organ was grinding out a vulgar tune.”

CEFR level