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Muzak

Muzak

8 8.0
Soft background music played in shops or offices to make a place feel calm
  • proper noun
  • /ˈmjuːzæk/
translation icon : Muzak
  • Inside a large, brightly lit DIY store with Muzak playing in the background.
  • Muzak plays
  • listen to Muzak
  • hear Muzak

Examples

  • But he did the Muzak version of it for her office building, which I love.

  • Muzak plays "Moonlight Sonata," drowning out the manifold reasons we cannot continue to live together.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • My parents listened to Muzak.

  • From that point on, they just listened to Muzak.

    Academic text (1992)
  • There is COUNTRY MUZAK in the background, which she hums along with.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • In the quiet, the hospital's Muzak became foreground.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • In the lobby on the main deck, red with plastic anthuriums, Muzak oozes from speakers in the ceiling.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • There was little noise above the hum of Muzak, the beep of terminal signals, and the drone of ventilation.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • In the lobby on the main deck, red with plastic anthuriums, Muzak oozes from speakers in the ceiling.

  • Inside a large, brightly lit DIY store with Muzak playing in the background.

Compounds

6.7

Soft, quiet background music played in public places to make people feel relaxed

soft Muzak
  • Archaic
6.3

Quiet music without singing played in public places to make people feel calm

Surface Forms

Muzak main

Etymology

Muzak began as a company name made from the word music. Because that company supplied soft 'background' music to shops, offices, and elevators, Muzak came to mean that kind of easy, in-store music.