/fluːt/
OriginCompare French flûte (“a transport”)?, Dutch fluit.
- A woodwind instrument consisting of a tube with a row of holes that produce sound through vibrations caused by air blown across the edge of the holes, often tuned by plugging one or more holes with a finger; the Western concert flute, a transverse side-blown flute of European origin.
“The breathing flute's ſoft notes are heard around, / And the ſhril trumpets mix their ſilver ſound; / The vaulted roofs vvith echoing muſic ring, / Theſe touch the vocal ſtops, and thoſe the trembling”
“The group played huge drums placed overhead, along with flutes and a kotolike zither.”
“After another alternation of the two elements, there is a more playful episode, in which flute and bassoon take up the first element, with swooping glissando on the ondes Martenot.”
- colloquialA recorder, also a woodwind instrument.
- A glass with a long, narrow bowl and a long stem, used for drinking wine, especially champagne.
“These are champagne glasses, says Peggy.
No, I mean the tall ones, Jamie says.
You're thinking of flutes, says Peggy. These are coupes.”
- A lengthwise groove, such as one of the lengthwise grooves on a classical column, or a groove on a cutting tool (such as a drill bit, endmill, or reamer), which helps to form both a cutting edge and a channel through which chips can escape.
- A semicylindrical vertical groove, as in a pillar, in plaited cloth, or in a rifle barrel to cut down the weight.
- A long French bread roll, baguette.
- An organ stop with a flute-like sound.
- A shuttle in weaving tapestry etc.
- A kind of flyboat; a storeship.
- intransitiveTo play on a flute.
- intransitiveTo make a flutelike sound.
“The green turf was velvet underfoot. The blackbirds fluted in the hazels there.”
- transitiveTo utter with a flutelike sound.
““Oh, there's my precious Poppet,” said Phyllis, as a distant barking reached the ears. “He's asking for his dinner, the sweet little angel. All right, darling, Mother's coming,” she fluted, and buzzed”
- transitiveTo form flutes or channels in (as in a column, a ruffle, etc.); to cut a semicylindrical vertical groove in (as in a pillar, etc.).
Formsflutes(plural) · flutes(present, singular, third-person) · fluting(participle, present) · fluted(participle, past) · fluted(past)