glissando

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Among special effects the glissando is really beautiful when properly done.

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Definitions (6)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. noun Music A rapid slide through a series of consecutive tones in a scalelike passage.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (2)

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

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (2)

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Examples (31)

  • He was sitting with his hands over his monstrous face, sinking every moment deeper into despair, when he heard a soft sweet sound, like a glissando on an ethereal harp. —  F ;SF; - vol 101 issue 04-05 - October-November 2001
  • Can anyne honestly say that they don't know instantly what the song is just from the 1 second piano glissando introduction?
  • What it does have is a vocal with powerful presence and confident technique, including a beautifully executed glissando of the type that later jazz singers would turn into a cliche, and which Bayes executes without vanity. —  Locust St.
  • I wasn't expecting something with that lyrical theme, or that glissando theme in the chorus. —  TheGauntlet.com
  • (Insert harp glissando here to initiate obvious flash-back sequence) —  Laurie Kendrick
 

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. French glissade; see glissade + -ando (as in accelerando).

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. As if Italian present participle, equivalent to F. glissant, present participle of glisser, slide: see glissade.
 

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/gliˈsændoʊ/
by American Heritage

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