Meaning & use
wind instrument
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountablemusic
A musical instrument that makes sound when the player blows air into it or across it, such as a flute, clarinet or trumpet.
Grammar: The first word is wind with a short i, not the wind that rhymes with find.
Patterns
- play a wind instrument
The flute is the oldest wind instrument she can play.
He took up a wind instrument at school, choosing the clarinet.
Breath control matters more for a wind instrument than for a piano.
Word forms
| plural | wind instruments |
|---|
Common combinations
- play a wind instrument
- She can play a wind instrument and a string instrument.
- learn a wind instrument
- Children often learn a wind instrument at around age ten.
- a traditional wind instrument
- The shakuhachi is a traditional wind instrument from Japan.
- wind instrument maker
- A wind instrument maker repaired the old oboe.
- wind instrument players
- Wind instrument players need strong lungs and steady breath.
Synonyms and how they differ
- aerophone
- Aerophone is the technical term used in classifying instruments worldwide, and it is rarely heard in everyday conversation.
- woodwind
- Woodwind is narrower, covering flutes, clarinets and oboes, so every woodwind is a wind instrument but not the reverse.
- brass instrument
- Brass instrument is also narrower, naming trumpets, trombones and horns where the player's buzzing lips make the sound.
Word family
- woodwind noun
- a wind instrument such as a flute, clarinet or oboe
- wind band noun
- a group of musicians playing wind and percussion instruments
- wind section noun
- the wind players in an orchestra
- wind quintet noun
- a chamber group of five wind players
Commonly confused: wind instrument or wind?
wind instrument vs wind
In wind instrument the word is said with a short i, like the breeze. The verb wind, meaning to turn or twist, rhymes with find and has nothing to do with this phrase.
Practice
A clarinet is a ___ instrument, because the sound is made by blowing air into it.
Choose one answer.
Clarinets are played by blowing, which makes them wind instruments. String instruments are plucked or bowed, percussion instruments are struck, and keyboard instruments are played with keys.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “wind instrument”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.