Harp
Harp (harp) , noun
[Old English harpe, Anglo-Saxon hearpe; akin to Dutch harp, German harfe, Old High German harpha, Danish harpe, Icelandic & Swedish harpa.]
1.
A musical instrument consisting of a triangular frame furnished with strings and sometimes with pedals, held upright, and played with the fingers.
2.
(Astronomy) A constellation; Lyra, or the Lyre.
3.
A grain sieve. [Scottish]
Collocations (3)
Aeolian harp , See under Aeolian.
Harp seal (Zoology) , an arctic seal (Phoca Gronlandica). The adult males have a light-colored body, with a harp-shaped mark of black on each side, and the face and throat black. Called also saddler, and saddleback. The immature ones are called bluesides; their fur is white, and they are killed and skinned to harvest the fur.
Harp shell (Zoology) , a beautiful marine gastropod shell of the genus Harpa, of several species, found in tropical seas. See Harpa.
Harp (harpt) , intransitive verb
[Anglo-Saxon hearpian. See Harp, n.]
1.
To play on the harp.
I heard the voice of harpers, harping with their harps.
2.
To dwell on or recur to a subject tediously or monotonously in speaking or in writing; to refer to something repeatedly or continually; -- usually with on or upon.
Harpings upon old themes.
Harping on what I am,
Not what he knew I was.
Collocations (1)
To harp on one string , to dwell upon one subject with disagreeable or wearisome persistence. [Colloquial]
Harp , transitive verb
To play on, as a harp; to play (a tune) on the harp; to develop or give expression to by skill and art; to sound forth as from a harp; to hit upon.
Thou 'st harped my fear aright.