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medley

   Also found in: Acronyms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
med·ley  (mdl)
n. pl. med·leys
1. An often jumbled assortment; a mixture: "That night he dreamed he was traveling in a foreign country, only it seemed to be a medley of all the countries he'd ever been to and even some he hadn't" Anne Tyler.
2. Music An arrangement made from a series of melodies, often from various sources.
3. Sports An event in competitive swimming in which backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle are swum in equal distances by an individual or as divisions of a relay race.

[Middle English medlee, from Anglo-Norman medlee, meddling, from past participle of medler, to meddle; see meddle.]

medley
Noun
1. a mixture of various elements
2. a musical composition consisting of various tunes arranged as a continuous whole
3. Swimming a race in which a different stroke is used for each length [Old French, from medler to mix, quarrel]

Medley a mixture, jumble, hotchpotch; a mixed literary or musical composition.
Examples: medley of astrology and homely reciepts, 1897; of houses, 1885; of mirth with sadness, 1529; of music; of many nations, 1652; of philosophy and rhetoric, 1865; of sounds; of tunes; of voices; of sense and madness, 1755.
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.medley - a musical composition consisting of a series of songs or other musical pieces from various sources
musical composition, opus, piece of music, composition, piece - a musical work that has been created; "the composition is written in four movements"

medley
Translations
Spanish medley [ˈmɛdlɪ] nmezcla;
(MUS) → popurrí m

French medley [ˈmɛdlɪ] nmélange m
German medley [ˈmɛdlɪ] nGemisch nt;
(Mus) → Medley nt

Italian medley [ˈmɛdlɪ] nselezione f

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On the same principle, even if a writer in his poetic imitation were to combine all metres, as Chaeremon did in his Centaur, which is a medley composed of metres of all kinds, we should bring him too under the general term poet.
Also, on each landing there is a medley of boxes, chairs, and dilapidated wardrobes; while the windows have had most of their panes shattered, and everywhere stand washtubs filled with dirt, litter, eggshells, and fish-bladders.
Adam saw a medley of green and red lights blaze in a whirling circle, and as it sank down into the well, a pair of blazing green eyes became fixed, sank lower and lower with frightful rapidity, and disappeared, throwing upward the green light which grew more and more vivid every moment.
 
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