'straw fiddle' definitions:

Definition of 'straw fiddle'

From: GCIDE
  • Xylophone \Xy"lo*phone\, n. [Xylo- + Gr. fwnh` sound.] [1913 Webster]
  • 1. (Mus.) Originally, an instrument common among the Russians, Poles, and Tartars, consisting of a series of strips of wood or glass graduated in length to the musical scale, resting on belts of straw, and struck with two small hammers; now any similar musical instrument composed of a series of bars of graduated length. Called in Germany strohfiedel, or straw fiddle. [1913 Webster +PJC]
  • 2. An instrument to determine the vibrative properties of different kinds of wood. --Knight. [1913 Webster]