hurdy-gurdy

Meaning

Noun

1. A stringed instrument that produces a droning sound by turning a handle that connects to a wheel that rubs against a rosined string, with a keyboard also used to alter the pitch of the string.
2. Synonym of street organ, often considered a misnomer.
3. (California, US) A water wheel with radial buckets, driven by the impact of a jet.
4. A winch, a windlass.

Adj

Sounding like the Swedish language.

Synonyms

barrel organ

hurdy gurdy

hand organ

grind organ

street organ

street-organ

wheel fiddle

carnival

Translations

Drehleier

draaiorgel

pierement

🅰️

ghironda

vielle à roue

Leierkasten

sanfona

zanfoña

-kästen

draailier

orgue de Barbarie

-n

vielle á roue

orgue de barbarie

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈhɜː.diˌɡɜː.di/

Etymology

Probably onomatopoeic in imitation of the sound produced by the stringed instrument. Compare obsolete hirdy-girdy (“an uproar; noise”). Attested from the 1740s.