Accordion


Also called piano accordion. a portable wind instrument having a large bellows for forcing air through small metal reeds, a keyboard for the right hand, and buttons for sounding single bass notes or chords for the left hand.
a similar instrument having single-note buttons instead of a keyboard.
having a fold or folds like the bellows of an accordion:
accordion roof; accordion panel.
(of a door, roof, or other covering) to open by folding back or pressing together in the manner of an accordion:
The roof of the car accordions to let in sunlight and fresh air.
to fold, crush together, or collapse in the manner of an accordion.
to demolish by crushing together lengthwise:
The impact accordioned the car beneath the truck.
Contemporary Examples

A straight-faced clown in severe white makeup begins picking out a tune on an accordion as more people trickle in to watch.
Giovanni Zoppé’s Real-Life Family Circus Malcolm Jones October 20, 2012

The questions presented by the lower folds in the accordion are economic and social.
David’s Bookclub: Plutocrats David Frum December 25, 2012

There are pictures of pretty young women singing along to a jolly officer on the accordion.
A Holiday Lesson from Auschwitz Christopher Buckley December 25, 2009

Papino, the white clown, reappears, now without his accordion.
Giovanni Zoppé’s Real-Life Family Circus Malcolm Jones October 20, 2012

He had skinny legs and bloated ribs fanning from his torso like an accordion strapped to his chest.
‘Tracing the Blue Light’: Read Chapter 1 of Eileen Cronin’s ‘Mermaid’ Eileen Cronin April 7, 2014

Historical Examples

William Vibard moved with his accordion from the porch to beside the kitchen stove.
Mountain Blood Joseph Hergesheimer

Was not his accordion there to show that he possessed a regular means of livelihood?
A Nest of Spies Pierre Souvestre

Again there came to Philip’s ears the wheezing notes of the accordion.
Philip Steele of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police James Oliver Curwood

Gunner Oke had strapped an accordion on top of his knapsack.
Merry-Garden and Other Stories Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch

Evidently, the master of the ark was musically inclined, for a shelf contained an accordion, a banjo and a mouth organ.
Saboteurs on the River Mildred A. Wirt

noun
a portable box-shaped instrument of the reed organ family, consisting of metallic reeds that are made to vibrate by air from a set of bellows controlled by the player’s hands. Notes are produced by means of studlike keys
short for piano accordion
n.

1831, from German Akkordion, from Akkord “musical chord, concord of sounds, be in tune” (cf. Italian accordare “to attune an instrument”); ultimately from same source as English accord (v.), with suffix on analogy of clarion, etc. Invented 1829 by piano-maker Cyrill Demian (1772-1847) of Vienna.

Read Also:

  • Accordion-fold

    to fold into pleats resembling the bellows of an accordion: to make a fan by accordion-folding a sheet of paper.

  • Accordion graft

    accordion graft accordion graft ac·cor·di·on graft (ə-kôr’dē-ən) n. A skin graft in which multiple slits have been made so that it can be stretched to cover a large area.

  • Accordion pleat

    one of a series of narrow, evenly spaced parallel pleats with alternating raised and recessed folds set into cloth or other material, usually by a commercial pleating machine.

  • Accordion pleats

    one of a series of narrow, evenly spaced parallel pleats with alternating raised and recessed folds set into cloth or other material, usually by a commercial pleating machine. plural noun tiny knife pleats

  • Accordion scheduling

    noun the use of temporary and part-time workers whose hours are adjusted on a daily basis to avoid overstaffing of the business operation Examples Accordion scheduling helps the company provide for its changing labor requirements. Word Origin imitative of an accordion’s moving in and out Usage Note business


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