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castanets

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
castanets (kăs'tənĕts`), percussion instruments known to the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, possibly of Middle Eastern origin, now used primarily in Spanish dance music or imitations of it. There are many kinds, the most common consisting of two small matching pieces of hard wood or ivory, joined at the inner edge and used with a thin strap in the player's hand; they are snapped together between the palm and fingers. Castanets are also occasionally used in orchestral music.
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Seville: it brings to the mind girls dancing with castanets, singing in gardens by the Guadalquivir, bull-fights, orange-blossom, mantillas, mantones de Manila.
Of Human Bondage by Maugham, W. Somerset View in context
chimed in twenty voices, and the castanet player, in spite of the burden of his equipment, rushed out to the front and, walking backwards before the company, jerked his shoulders and flourished his castanets as if threatening someone.
War and Peace by Tolstoy, Leo View in context
And Jo shook the blue army sock till the needles rattled like castanets, and her ball bounded across the room.
Little Women by Alcott, Louisa May View in context
 
 
 
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