castanet

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“
By the end of that time his tongue was making sounds like a muffled castanet, and his resolution was scorched out of him You've got us," he croaked.

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Definitions (3)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. noun A percussion instrument consisting of a pair of slightly concave shells of ivory or hardwood, held in the palm of the hand by a connecting cord over the thumb and clapped together with the fingers. Often used in the plural.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (1)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

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Examples (50)

  • The marauder driven off; he would return to the tree to utter his triumphant rattling castanet-like notes and (no doubt) to receive the congratulations of his mate; then to settle down again to watch the sky for the appearance of the next chimango. —  Far Away And Long Ago
  • I turned to Scipio, standing by the low-boy, his teeth going like a castanet. —  Richard Carvel
  • The everlasting “shout” is always within hearing, with its mixture of piety and polka, and its castanet-like clapping of the hands. —  Army Life in a Black Regiment
  • Your camera button will click like a castanet as the train roars over Norway's mountainous spine. —  CNN.com
  • But she can't play an instrument besides the castanet. —  Anime Nano!
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This word has been looked up 112 times.

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Spanish castañeta, from castaña, chestnut, from Latin castanea; see chestnut.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. = French castagnette, from Spanish castañeta (= Portuguese castanheta), a castanet, from castaña- Portuguese castanha, from Latin castanea, a chestnut; from the resemblance.
 

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/ˈkæstənɛt/
by American Heritage

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