Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A small flute pitched an octave above a regular flute.
- adj. Of, relating to, or being a musical instrument considerably smaller than the usual size: a piccolo trumpet; a piccolo concertina.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A small flute, sounding an octave higher than the ordinary flute. Also called flauto piccolo, octave-flute, ottavino, and ottavius.
- n. An organ-stop giving tones like those of a piccolo.
- n. The small or treble bugle, usually pitched in E flat.
Wiktionary
- n. music An instrument similar to a flute, but smaller, and playing an octave higher.
- n. A waiter's assistant in a hotel or restaurant.
- n. A bottle of champagne containing 0.1875 liters of fluid, 1/4 the volume of a standard bottle; a quarter bottle or snipe.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Mus.) A small, shrill flute, the pitch of which is an octave higher than the ordinary flute; an octave flute.
- n. (Mus.) A small upright piano.
- n. (Mus.) An organ stop, with a high, piercing tone.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a small flute; pitched an octave above the standard flute
Etymologies
- French, from Italian, short for (flauto) piccolo, small (flute).Italian, small. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“I don't care who called the piccolo player a MoFo, I just want to know who called that MoFo a piccolo player!”
“She also used this masterful reasoning to determine (wrongly) that the piccolo is a member of the percussion family.”
“Strains of “Der Fuehrer’s Face” by Spike Jones and His City Slickers ran through my mind and I chuckled without meaning to as the image of Göring on piccolo from the German oom-pah band in Disney’s “Donald Duck in Nutzi Land” popped unbidden into my head.”
“(Both because of the violation and the "piccolo" revelation.)”
“There was the banjo-ukulele, the guitar-banjo, different banjo sizes such as piccolo, cello and bass, the banjeaurine, the plectrum banjo (a 5-string banjo without the 5th string), etc. etc.”
“The detuning by a quarter·tone in one piccolo, clarinet, trumpet and synthesiser enabled a more accurate realisation of the harmonic series.”
The Guardian: Guardian young arts critic competition: 2010 winning entries
“Driven by roaring trombones, the tempest reaches its tremendous climax, with cymbals crashing amid a screaming twirling motif for the violins, flute and piccolo.”
The Wall Street Journal: The Splendid Start to a Farewell to Opera
“To keep the pace moving, Rossini has those final plucked chords overlap a new, rustling motif by the violas and second violins, answered with three detached chords for piccolo, flute and two oboes.”
The Wall Street Journal: The Splendid Start to a Farewell to Opera
“Here the violins, flute and piccolo, playing near the top of their range, are answered by a weighty gesture by the trombones, bassoons, cellos and basses.”
The Wall Street Journal: The Splendid Start to a Farewell to Opera
“Let's see ... amazing video of a conference room, Conan band leader Jimmy Vivino playing a piccolo, a lame Facebook joke, Jim Parsons saying "It's nice to be here," several Diet Coke promotions, the band Steel Train playing a single chord and a dancing Taco.”
The Washington Post: Conan O'Brien offers preview of 'Conan' with 'Show Zero'
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘piccolo’.
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cc
impeccable, accouterment, accoutrement, cc, access, baccivorous, desiccant, floccular, successor, occidental, laccolithic, laccolith and 143 more...
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Genes
Interesting gene names. Some of these may have changed recently (to something less offensive/funny).
http://www.genenames.org/
tinman, agnostic, dreadlocks, Van Gogh, fruitless, lava lamp, ariadne, cheap date, ken and barbie, I'm not dead yet, I'm not dead yet 2, manic fringe and 1192 more... -
Organ Stops
A list of pipe- and pedal-organ stops. These have variously and perhaps at times capriciously been named and labelled by organ builders in Latin, English, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Spanish, a...
diapason, double open diapason, sub-bourdon, double dulciana, bourdon, contra gamba, pyramidon, open diapason, stopped diapason, dulcis, dulciana, viol-di-gamba and 244 more...
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1001 ways to caffeinate
Coffee has been in the news recently; several long-term studies have concluded coffee almost certainly helps prevent type 2 diabetes, liver disease, basal cell carcinoma and possibly Parkinson’s. ...
flat white, black coffee, breve, ristretto, espresso, doppio, tripplo, depth charge, eiskaffee, caffè latte, café au lait, galão and 230 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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Twitter favorites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favorite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
unfathomably, glice, cuh, fab, ciggaty, doll, thuggin, oxymoronic, pineapple, succubutt, griming, cheeky and 2369 more... -
harmony of the spheres
tonic, supertonic, mediant, subdominant, dominant, submediant, subtonic, leading tone, progression, sonata, concerto, allegro and 247 more...
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parody's Words
defenestrate, behemoth, floss, macchiato, glom, emu, alpaca, crocheted, ampersand, charade, conflate, salacious and 193 more...
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My Little Ponies 3
A list of My Little Pony names from the G3 collection. 2003-present
wysteria, rainbow dash, sweetberry, sunny daze, kimono, minty, pinkie pie, sparkleworks, star swirl, autumn skye, butterscotch, moondancer and 361 more...
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theastic's Words
cellar, stalemate, wrought, opal, tyrant, squelch, squab, linen, tartan, paisley, scope, siren and 395 more...
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Musical words
nocturne, flat, sharp, waltz, etude, opera, soprano, alto, tenor, bass, cello, flute and 131 more...
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Fun Words
Words that have funny meanings or are just fun to say.
kumquat, chimichanga, sarsparilla, rutabaga, rumpus, flummox, encrusted, prestidigitation, pomegranate, preposterous, dentiloquist, sepulchre and 323 more...
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Pull out the stops
Organ stops, that is.
diapason, clarabella, dulciana, bourdon, reed stop, flue stop, violoncello, suabe flute, waldflute, rackett, pyramidon, querflöte and 106 more...
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Microcars
Mostly model names, a few brand names and even the occasional colour shade or technical detail thrown in. Excellent resource here.
messerschmitt, tourenfahrzeug-ge..., goggomobil, bavarian blue, buckboard, zeta, frisky sprint, atlas babycar, coccinelle, rubber-in-torsion, avolette, tourisme and 113 more...
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Tulip Names I
No rhyme or reason other than that I like the names. :-) For more flower fun, see these lists:
Rose words by mollusque
Rose varieties by mollusque
Tulip Names II: You Know ...abbey dream, abbey road, abodement, abra, abra elite, academician tstisin, acapulco, ace of diamonds, acropolis, ad hoc, adamo, addis and 597 more...
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Words Covered in Faery Dust (P)
words that evoke magic, mystery, mayhem, magnificence or anything else that glimmers in the grass
pagan, page, pageant, pageboy, pagoda, paisley, paladin, palfrey, paling, pampas grass, pan, panoply and 194 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for piccolo.
oroboros Get Rob soused? Oct 12, 2009