Meanings
nounbarrel organ (plural barrel organs)
plural barrel organs · alternative barrel-organ
- A musical instrument in which air from a bellows is admitted to a set of pipes by means of pins inserted into a revolving barrel (typically turned by a crank), originating in France.
Ragged children played in the road, and an old barrel-organ was grinding out a vulgar tune.
1915, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter LXXXIII, in Of Human Bondage, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, →OCLC1 more example
Poor Mrs. Cranch was bulky, and, breathing asthmatically, had the additional motive for making her remarks unexceptionable and giving them a general bearing, that even her whispers were loud and liable to sudden bursts like those of a deranged barrel-organ.
1871–1872, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], Middlemarch […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book (please specify |book=I to VIII)Synonyms: roller organ, street organ
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA musical instrument in which air from a bellows is admitted to a set of pipes by means of pins inserted into a revolving barrel (typically turned by a crank), originating in France.
Similar
More synonyms by meaning
nouna musical instrument that makes music by rotation of a cylinder studded with pegs
Similar
grind organhand organ
Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Arabic أُرْغُن يَدَوِيّ
- أُرْغُن يَدَوِيّ (ʔurḡun yadawiyy)pipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
Bulgarian лате́рна
- лате́рна (latérna)pipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
Catalan piano de maneta
- piano de manetapipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
Chinese Mandarin 手搖風琴 /手摇风琴
- 手搖風琴 /手摇风琴 (shǒuyáo fēngqín)pipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
Czech flašinet, kolovrátek
- flašinetpipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
- kolovrátekpipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
Danish lirekasse
- lirekassepipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
Dutch draaiorgel
- draaiorgelpipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
Esperanto gurdo
- gurdopipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
Estonian väntorel, leierkast
- väntorelpipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
- leierkastpipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
Finnish posetiivi
- posetiivipipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
French orgue de Barbarie
- orgue de Barbariepipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
German Drehorgel, Leierkasten
- Drehorgelpipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
- Leierkastenpipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
Greek λατέρνα, ρομβία
- λατέρνα (latérna)pipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
- ρομβία (romvía)pipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
Hungarian verkli, kintorna
- verklipipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
- kintornapipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
Icelandic lírukassi
- lírukassipipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
Irish bairille-orgán, orgán bairille
- bairille-orgánpipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
- orgán bairillepipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
Italian organo a rullo, organetto di Barberia
- organo a rullopipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
- organetto di Barberiapipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
- organettopipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
Japanese 手回しオルガン
- 手回しオルガン (temawashi orugan)pipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
Korean 휴대용 풍금
- 휴대용 풍금 (hyudaeyong punggeum)pipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
Latvian leijerkaste
- leijerkastepipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
Lithuanian ryla
- rylapipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
Norwegian Bokmål lirekasse
- lirekassepipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
Polish katarynka
- katarynkapipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
Portuguese realejo
- realejopipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
Romanian flașnetă
- flașnetăpipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
Russian шарма́нка
- шарма́нка (šarmánka)pipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
Slovak verkeľ, verklík
- verkeľpipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
- verklíkpipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
Spanish organito, organillo
- organitopipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
- organillopipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
Swedish positiv, vevorgel
- positivpipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
- vevorgelpipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
Turkish lâterna
- lâternapipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
Ukrainian катери́нка, шарма́нка
- катери́нка (katerýnka)pipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
- шарма́нка (šarmánka)pipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
Yiddish קאַטערינקע
- קאַטערינקע (katerinke)pipe instrument with air controlled pins in a revolving barrel
Cite this entry
APA
barrel organ. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/barrel%20organ
MLA
“barrel organ.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/barrel%20organ. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “barrel organ,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/barrel%20organ.
Source: barrel organ on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.