cymbal

brass plate used as a percussion instrument: the crashing of the cymbals

Not to be confused with:

symbol – a sign; something that represents something else: A dove is a symbol of peace.

cym·bal

(sĭm′bəl)

A percussion instrument consisting of a concave brass plate that makes a loud clashing tone when hit with a drumstick or when used in pairs.

[Middle English, from Old English and from Old French cymbale, both from Latin cymbalum, from Greek kumbalon, from kumbē, bowl.]

cym′bal·eer′ (sĭm′bə-lîr′), cym′bal·er, cym′bal·ist n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

cymbal

(ˈsɪmbəl)

(Instruments) a percussion instrument of indefinite pitch consisting of a thin circular piece of brass, which vibrates when clashed together with another cymbal or struck with a stick

[Old English cymbala, from Medieval Latin, from Latin cymbalum, from Greek kumbalon, from kumbē something hollow]

ˈcymbaler, ˌcymbalˈeer, ˈcymbalist n

ˈcymbal-ˌlike adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

cym•bal

(ˈsɪm bəl)

n.

a concave plate of brass or bronze that produces a sharp, ringing sound when struck: played either in pairs, by being struck together, or singly, by being struck with a drumstick or the like.

[before 900; Middle English; Old English cymbala < Medieval Latin, variant of cymbalum, Latin < Greek kýmbalon, akin to kýmbos, kýmbē hollow object]

cym′bal•ist, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

cymbal - a percussion instrument consisting of a concave brass disk; makes a loud crashing sound when hit with a drumstick or when two are struck together

high hat, high-hat cymbal - cymbals that are operated by a foot pedal

percussion instrument, percussive instrument - a musical instrument in which the sound is produced by one object striking another

zill - one of a pair of small metallic cymbals worn on the thumb and middle finger; used in belly dancing in rhythm with the dance

Translations

صَنْج نُحاسي

činel

bækken

Becken Zimbel

κύμβαλο πιατίνι

lautaset

cymbale cymbales

cintányér

málmgjöll, simbalar

lėkštė

šķīvji

klankbekken

talerz

кимвал тарелки

činel

bäckencymbal

zil

铙钹

cymbal

[ˈsɪmbəl] N (freq pl) → címbalo m, platillo m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

cymbal

[ˈsɪmb^əl] n (MUSIC) → cymbale f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

cymbal

n → Beckenteller m; cymbals → Becken nt; to play the cymbals → das Becken schlagen

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

cymbal

[ˈsɪmb/əl] n → piatto (Mus)

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

cymbal

(ˈsimbəl) noun

a brass musical instrument like a plate with a hollow in the centre, two of which are struck together to produce a noise. The cymbals clashed.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

For a crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love.

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Hear!" cried Jo, clashing the lid of the warming pan like a cymbal.

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He was received by the whole troop of his majesty's wives, to the harmonious accords of the "upatu," a sort of cymbal made of the bottom of a copper kettle, and to the uproar of the "kilindo," a drum five feet high, hollowed out from the trunk of a tree, and hammered by the ponderous, horny fists of two jet-black virtuosi.

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I hearkened and hearkened the ministers, and read an' read at my prayer-book; but it was all like sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal: the sermons I couldn't understand, an' th' prayer-book only served to show me how wicked I was, that I could read such good words an' never be no better for it, and oftens feel it a sore labour an' a heavy task beside, instead of a blessing and a privilege as all good Christians does.

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The players were not tin, being just ordinary Winkies; but the instruments they played upon were all tin--tin trumpets, tin fiddles, tin drums and cymbals and flutes and horns and all.

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The discordant tones of the voices and instruments drew nearer, and now droning songs mingled with the sound of the tambourines and cymbals. The head of the procession soon appeared beneath the trees, a hundred paces away; and the strange figures who performed the religious ceremony were easily distinguished through the branches.

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It is so, for cymbals clash, and the Sultan goes by to his palace in long procession.

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We reached the palace without anyone having noticed our absence, when, shortly after, a clashing of drums, and cymbals, and the blare of trumpets burst upon our astonished ears.

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The cymbals and horns in the orchestra struck up more loudly, and this man with bare legs jumped very high and waved his feet about very rapidly.

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In a gallery a band with cymbals, horns, harps, and other horrors, opened the proceedings with what seemed to be the crude first-draft or original agony of the wail known to later centuries as "In the Sweet Bye and Bye." It was new, and ought to have been rehearsed a little more.

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It was of Eastern origin, having been brought from the Holy Land; and the mixture of the cymbals and bells seemed to bid welcome at once, and defiance, to the knights as they advanced.

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And there all day, and day after day, there was bustle and crowding and labor, while the great ships loaded up, and one after the other spread their white pinions and darted off to the open sea, amid the clash of cymbals and rolling of drums and lusty shouts of those who went and of those who waited.

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