Castanets
either of a pair of concave pieces of wood held in the palm of the hand and clicked together, usually to accompany dancing.
Historical Examples
But Juan had given her money, for which she had promised to bring him the castanets.
The Little Spanish Dancer Madeline Brandeis
I told her I should have liked to see her dance, only there were no castanets to be had.
Carmen Prosper Merimee
When the patrol boat brought them on board, their teeth rattled like castanets.
Company G A. R. (Albert Rowe) Barlow
She was to warn them with her castanets the instant she caught sight of the patrol.
Carmen Prosper Merimee
While he was dressing his teeth chattered like castanets in a minstrel show.
The Lure of the Dim Trails by (AKA B. M. Sinclair) B. M. Bower
The sound of the castanets seemed to make her alive all over.
Elsie Venner Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
My teeth chattered like castanets, jarring in my jaws until it was painful.
Romance Joseph Conrad and F.M. Hueffer
And thereupon, he hurled his cap at the wall, and snapped his fingers like castanets.
Notre-Dame de Paris Victor Hugo
Won’t you come and hear me play the castanets, if Monsieur Enguerrand can spare you?
Jacqueline, Complete (Mme. Blanc) Th. Bentzon
Furious blasts clutched at the windows, and rattled them like castanets.
The Green Satin Gown Laura E. Richards
plural noun
curved pieces of hollow wood, usually held between the fingers and thumb and made to click together: used esp by Spanish dancers
n.
usually castanets, 1640s, from French castagnette or directly from Spanish castañeta diminutive of castaña “chestnut,” from Latin castanea (see chestnut).
Read Also:
- Caste-mark
(in India) a mark, usually on the forehead, symbolizing and identifying caste membership. a distinctive trait, associated with a group or class and marking a person as a member. Historical Examples On top of his head was an oblong of bare-shaven skull—some caste-mark apparently. Cupid in Africa P. C. Wren This is their caste-mark, the […]
- Caster
a person or thing that casts. a small wheel on a swivel, set under a piece of furniture, a machine, etc., to facilitate moving it. a bottle or cruet for holding a condiment. a stand containing a set of such bottles. a metal container for sugar, pepper, etc., having a perforated top to permit sprinkling; […]
- Caste-system
the rigid Hindu system of hereditary social distinctions based on castes. Historical Examples Nevertheless, it contains the great text on the caste-system, the fulcrum of priestly pre-eminence. The Ethnology of the British Colonies and Dependencies Robert Gordon Latham The caste-system did not exist in Mexico but it was a custom, usually observed, for the son […]
- Casteism
Sociology. an endogamous and hereditary social group limited to persons of the same rank, occupation, economic position, etc., and having mores distinguishing it from other such groups. any rigid system of social distinctions. Hinduism. any of the social divisions into which Hindu society is traditionally divided, each caste having its own privileges and limitations, transferred […]
- Castel-gandolfo
a village in central Italy, 15 miles (24 km) SE of Rome: papal palace serving as the summer residence of the pope. Historical Examples When summer came they rented a little villa at castel-gandolfo. Woman Triumphant Vicente Blasco Ibaez