accordion
English edit
Alternative forms edit
- accordeon (dated)
Etymology edit
First attested in 1831. From German Akkordeon, from Akkord (“harmony”), from French accord, from Old French acorder, based on Italian accordare (“to tune”). See also accord.
Pronunciation edit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /əˈkɔ(ɹ).di.ˌən/
- (US) IPA(key): /ə.ˈkɔɹ.di.ən/
Audio (US) (file) - Hyphenation: ac‧cord‧i‧on
Noun edit
accordion (plural accordions)
- A box-shaped musical instrument with means of keys and buttons, whose tones are generated by play of the wind from a squeezed bellows upon free metallic reeds.
- Hypernym: squeezebox
- Coordinate term: concertina
- 1869, Mark Twain, Innocents Abroad:
- A disreputable accordion that had a leak somewhere and breathed louder than it squawked.
- (graphical user interface) A vertical list of items that can be individually expanded and collapsed to reveal their contents.
- (Can we verify(+) this sense?) (figurative) A set of items (concepts, links, or otherwise) that can be packed and unpacked cognitively, or their representation as a set of virtual objects.
- See also: telescoping
Derived terms edit
Descendants edit
- → Irish: acordán
- → Thai: แอกคอร์เดียน (ɛ́k-kɔɔ-dîian)
Translations edit
a small, portable, keyed wind instrument
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See also edit
Verb edit
accordion (third-person singular simple present accordions, present participle accordioning, simple past and past participle accordioned)
- (transitive, intransitive) To fold up, in the manner of an accordion
- 1980, Stephen King, The Mist:
- I slit the wrapping with my pocketknife and the clothesline accordioned out in stiff loops.
- 2000 December 29, Charles Dickinson, “Qi”, in Chicago Reader[1]:
- Still in reverse, she goosed the gas and accordioned the running board a fraction of an inch more.
- 2005, Cory Doctorow, Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town[2]:
- It accordioned down and he tugged the shirt around it so that it came free […] .