Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Plural form of harlequin.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • HMS Harlequin dressed his boat crew up as harlequins, that is as clowns.

    StrategyPage.com 2010

  • The troops of the Swabian Circle of the Empire, who were ridiculed as "harlequins" by the more martial Austrians, dispersed to their homes; and no sooner had Moreau entered Bavaria than the Bavarian contingent in its turn withdrew from the Archduke.

    A History of Modern Europe, 1792-1878 Charles Alan Fyffe 1868

  • "harlequins" and "nose-bags," were won by the kindness of the great conqueror, who organised them under the hands of his own generals, and gave them the companionship of his own victorious legions.

    A History of Modern Europe, 1792-1878 Charles Alan Fyffe 1868

  • We sat down on driftwood and watched the comic black-and-white tuxedo harlequins diving and popping up in the waves.

    Brenda Peterson: Why I Still Want To Be Left Behind Brenda Peterson 2011

  • Yet the pastels and drawings from the Blue and Rose periods that follow, meditations on poverty and the lives of saltimbanques and harlequins, show the young Picasso exploiting his achingly sensitive touch in images that verge on the sentimental.

    Portrait of a Restless Artist as a Young Man Karen Wilkin 2011

  • Or, could we just turn a corner in a dark way and just barely see the whole damn play in an instant, complete with players, dressed like broken hearted harlequins, but giggling, taking their bows to silent ovations from an even darker room.

    Letters in the mode noir #43 James Lloyd Davis 2011

  • At Dalston's Holy Trinity church on Sunday, harlequins, jesters and pierrots will assemble for an act of worship.

    In praise of … the clowns' church service | Editorial 2011

  • In the last two sections — "The Life of the Bohemians," which features works, starting in 1904, that depicted harlequins and circus scenes, and "An Innovative, Modern Style," which shows Picasso moving toward a more sculptorly sensibility — the influence of fellow travelers like Guillame Apollinaire and Auguste Rodin are visible.

    How Picasso Fell in Love With Paris and Paris Fell in Love With Him Joel Weickgenant 2011

  • And as he sits there, watching the procession of harlequins walk across the screen, he experiences an obscure, contented feeling, which seems to be related to the rich scent in the air.

    The Redleys Matt Haig 2010

  • And as he sits there, watching the procession of harlequins walk across the screen, he experiences an obscure, contented feeling, which seems to be related to the rich scent in the air.

    The Redleys Matt Haig 2010

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