harp

/hɑrp/

/hɑp/

Other forms: harps; harping; harped

A harp is a large, stringed musical instrument with a beautiful sound. If you want to play an instrument that's portable, you should choose a ukulele instead of a harp.

Many orchestras include a classical harp, which is such a big instrument that players usually need assistance to move them. Harps are played from a sitting position, resting on the player's shoulder as she plucks the strings with both hands. A folk harp is often smaller, sometimes sitting on a player's lap. When harp is used as a verb, it means to talk constantly and dully about one topic: "The harpist did nothing but harp on about the weather."

Definitions of harp

1. noun

   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 fingers
   types:

   aeolian harp, aeolian lyre, wind harp

   a harp having strings tuned in unison; they sound when wind passes over them

   lyre

   a harp used by ancient Greeks for accompaniment

   trigon

   a triangular lyre of ancient Greece and Rome

   type of:

   chordophone

   a stringed instrument of the group including harps, lutes, lyres, and zithers
2. noun

   a small rectangular free-reed instrument having a row of free reeds set back in air holes and played by blowing into the desired hole
   synonyms: harmonica, mouth harp, mouth organ

   type of:

   free-reed instrument

   a wind instrument with a free reed
3. noun

   a pair of curved vertical supports for a lampshade
   type of:

   support

   any device that bears the weight of another thing
4. verb

   play the harp
   “She harped the Saint-Saens beautifully”

   type of:

   play

   perform music on (a musical instrument)
5. verb

   come back to
   “She is always harping on the same old things”

   synonyms: dwell

   type of:

   ingeminate, iterate, reiterate, repeat, restate, retell

   to say, state, or perform again