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Added 3 October 2026

xylophone

/ˈzaɪ.ləˌfəʊn/ noun

In Latin: xylophonium Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about xylophone at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Any musical instrument (percussion idiophone) made of wooden slats graduated so as to make the sounds of the scale when struck with a small drumstick-like mallet; the standard Western concert xylophone or one of its derivatives.
All I know how to play on my xylophone is "Mary Had a Little Lamb". Would you like to hear it?

verb

To play a xylophone or to play something else as though it was a xylophone.
To move above a ridged surface or series of surfaces so as to hit every ridge, in a manner similar to playing quickly and sequentially on a xylophone.

Origin

From xylo- (“of wood”) + -phone (“sound”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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