harp

Noun · Verb
US[hahrp]/hɑrp/1 syllable
Synonyms: harmonicamouth organmouth harpdwell

Open English WordNet

Noun (3)harps

  1. a chordophone that has a triangular frame consisting of a sounding board and a pillar and a curved neck; the strings stretched between the neck and the soundbox are plucked with the fingersType of chordophoneKinds aeolian harp, lyre
  2. a pair of curved vertical supports for a lampshadeType of support
  3. a small rectangular free-reed instrument having a row of free reeds set back in air holes and played by blowing into the desired holeSynonyms: harmonicamouth organmouth harpType of free-reed instrument

Verb (2)harps, harped, harping

  1. come back to“Don't dwell on the past”“She is always harping on the same old things”Synonyms: dwellMore general repeat, reiterate
  2. play the harp“She harped the Saint-Saens beautifully”More general playInvolves pluck, tweak

Related words harper noun, mouth organ noun, harpist noun

Word of the day · Nov 10About this word
hiatusnoun

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Webster's Dictionary (1913)

Harp (härp), noun

Origin: OE. harpe, AS. hearpe; akin to D. harp, G. harfe, OHG. harpha, Dan. harpe, Icel. & Sw. harpa.

1. A musical instrument consisting of a triangular frame furnished with strings and sometimes with pedals, held upright, and played with the fingers.

2. Astronomy A constellation; Lyra, or the Lyre.

3. A grain sieve. Scottish

Aeolian harp. See under Aeolian.

Harp seal Zoology, an arctic seal (Phoca Grœnlandica). The adult males have a light-colored body, with a harp-shaped mark of black on each side, and the face and throat black. Called also saddler, and saddleback. The immature ones are called bluesides; their fur is white, and they are killed and skinned to harvest the fur. — Harp shell Zoology, a beautiful marine gastropod shell of the genus Harpa, of several species, found in tropical seas. See Harpa.

Harp intransitive verb [past tense & past participle Harped (härpt) present participle & verbal noun Harping.]

Origin: AS. hearpian. See Harp, noun

1. To play on the harp.

I heard the voice of harpers, harping with their harps.— Rev. xiv. 2.

2. To dwell on or recur to a subject tediously or monotonously in speaking or in writing; to refer to something repeatedly or continually; — usually with on or upon. “Harpings upon old themes.” Washington Irving

Harping on what I am, Not what he knew I was.— William Shakespeare

To harp on one string, to dwell upon one subject with disagreeable or wearisome persistence. colloquial

Harp transitive verb

To play on, as a harp; to play (a tune) on the harp; to develop or give expression to by skill and art; to sound forth as from a harp; to hit upon.

Thou 'st harped my fear aright.— William Shakespeare

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54

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