Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A curved wooden horn, sometimes as long as 6 meters (approximately 20 feet), used by herders in the Alps to call cows to pasture.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A long, powerful horn, curving up and widening toward its extremity, formerly used on the Alps to convey signals and to sound the charge in battle, but now employed only by cowherds. Also called alp-horn.
Wiktionary
- n. alternative spelling of alphorn.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A curved wooden horn about three feet long, with a cupped mouthpiece and a bell, used by the Swiss to sound the
ranz des vaches and other melodies. Its notes are open harmonics of the tube.
Etymologies
- German : Alpen, Alps + Horn, horn (from Middle High German, from Old High German. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“An alpenhorn-blowing sheep, made out of fun foam and cotton wool, dangled over one of the worktables.”
The Wall Street Journal: The Puppet Kitchen's Recipe for Success
“The singing is accompanied by the blowing of an alpenhorn -- a long, curved wooden wind instrument with a distinctive, booming sound that was used by Swiss herders to call their cows from the pastures.”
The Wall Street Journal: Notice Me: Cutting Through the Marketing Clutter
“Being in the political centre of power is like being handed a crack pipe the size of an alpenhorn.”
Firedoglake » Deborah Howell and Fred Hiatt: Fact Free and Loving It
“On the last day of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, attendees gather for lunch on the hotel's terrace, serenaded by alpenhorn.”
“Globokar's solo piece for alpenhorn and lit cigar.”
“Warren Buffett's only luxury, his 500 foot long hydrogen-powered alpenhorn?”
“On Sunday, May 9, Studio Cantilena will play a Mother¹s Day program with Renaissance dances for a recorder ensemble, medieval two-part songs to the Virgin Mother and old Gregorian chants accompanied by crowth (an old Welsh fiddle), Tibetan singing bowls, and alpenhorn.”
“Nicholson Baker, the lofty author of The Mezzanine, called it "an alpenhorn blast of post-Gutenbergian revalorisation".”
“It's the standard stop for busloads of visiting tourists and conventioneers, and tonight it's crammed with doctors dunking bread in pots of cheese and lining up for a chance to press their lips against the soggy mouthpiece of the 12-foot alpenhorn propped across the stage.”
“As a small child enjoying the summer freshness in Csikszereda (Rumanian: Miercurea-Ciuc) in the Transylvanian mountains, he listened to the bucium, the Romanian alpenhorn.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘alpenhorn’.
-
Alpen-
Everything sounds better when you add an alpen- to it.
alpenglow, alpenstock, alpenhorn, alpenrose, Alpengeist, Alpenglühen, Alpental, Alpenrhein, AlpenKammerMusik, Alpenvorland, alpenpeak, alpen flute and 5 more...
-
Just 'cause I like 'em, A
abaculus, abacus, abaft, abarticular, abbreviate, abeyance, abiding, anthocyanin, antemeridian, arcane, adjure, adduce and 418 more...
-
Wordplayer's Wonderful Words
chaparral, grotesque, knork, newsmonger, thitherwards, fackeltanz, kakistocracy, sforzando, compendium, frump, inquere, phosphene and 100 more...
-
Ute
Durable items invented by Hom. Sap.
alpenhorn, matchbox, plinth, pillow, cantilever, fulcrum, troika, cloverleaf, nib, wheelbarrow, dictabelt, cockpit and 184 more...
-
Why I spend so much time on Wordie
You guys are what keeps me coming back!
nebraksa, ʇ�?q ʇınɹɟ, charging baby tap..., sagging, noh drama, zorro volador, dream a little dr..., ribcage, ursuline, femmage, you don't beep at..., alpenhorn and 20 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for alpenhorn.
ruzuzu I've made an alpenlist for your alpenamusement. Aug 25, 2011
hernesheir Alpentraum - my daydream of being in the mountains again. Could also be bergtraum. For want of an umlaut and laziness, I won't list the plurals of these words, which I fail to find in German dictionaries. Aug 31, 2009
reesetee What a great alpenstory! Aug 31, 2009
milosrdenstvi I was served "alpenbutter" when flying Lufthansa. I derived much amusement thereby. Aug 29, 2009
reesetee See?
*sipping alpentea* Jan 28, 2009
chained_bear I can't get back to work just yet--I need an alpencoffee break, and then perhaps a trip to the alpenrestroom.
Hey! You're right! Jan 28, 2009
reesetee Sometimes I like to add "alpen-" to words just for fun. Everything sounds more exotic that way.
I have to get back to alpenwork now. Jan 28, 2009
chained_bear Busch Gardens has a roller coaster called Alpengeist. Which I will now always confuse with alpenhorn. Jan 28, 2009
chained_bear Riiiiii-co-laaaaaaaaa! Jan 28, 2009