mouth harp
1
6.3
- noun
- /maʊθ hɑrp/
- US
:
armónica
- Instead, he bought me a harmonica—a mouth harp, he called it.
And I wanted to give for you and for your audience, little mouth harp composition.
- And I wanted to give for you and for your audience, little mouth harp composition.
Examples
-
One of the men, standing guard beneath the mistletoe, played lonesome love songs on a mouth harp.
Fiction book (1996) -
A die made from animal bones and simple musical instruments such as a mouth harp suggests that even on the frontier of the young nation, soldiers made time for diversions.
Academic text (2007) -
And I wanted to give for you and for your audience, little mouth harp composition.
-
The music of the fiddles and mouth harps seemed to loop and swirl like invisible ribbons in the warm summer twilight.
Fiction book (1994) -
And because whittling is the pride of the Ozarks, an art form as revered as the banjo or mouth harp, each handle had some bearded Druid-type character carved into the top.
Fiction book (1994) -
The musician skillfully played the mouth harp, captivating everyone at the gathering.
-
At the festival, several performers showcased their talents, with one highlighting the mouth harp in a lively tune.
-
He often carried his mouth harp in his pocket, ready to entertain friends with spontaneous melodies.
Synonyms
35
2.9
A small rectangular musical instrument played by blowing or drawing air through holes
1
5.6
A small flat instrument you play by blowing and drawing air through holes
Surface Forms
Morphology
mouth + harp
The compound combines 'mouth' (the body part used to play) with 'harp' (a musical instrument), so a learner who knows both words can infer it denotes a musical instrument played with the mouth (i.e., a harmonica). This noun+noun instrument-naming pattern is common and cross-linguistically transparent, making the meaning predictable to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Mouth harp The noun mouth harp comes from the picture of a tiny harp you play with your mouth: you hold the small instrument to your mouth and blow so the metal parts sing like a harp. That's why mouth harp means a small, hand-held instrument, also called a 'harmonica'.