Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The largest bowed stringed instrument in the modern orchestra, also used frequently in jazz ensembles, especially played pizzicato. The double bass, usually considered a member of the violin family, is tuned in fourths and has the sloping shoulders and flat back characteristic of the viols. It has a deep range, going as low as three octaves below middle C.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A musical instrument, the largest and deepest of the viol family, having 3 or 4 strings, with a compass of over 3 octaves from the third E below middle C.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun music The largest stringed instrument of the violin family.
  • noun The deepest of all male voices.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun largest and lowest member of the violin family
  • adjective pitched an octave below normal bass instrumental or vocal range

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[double, tuned an octave lower than (from the fact that a string or pipe that is twice the length of another gives a pitch an octave lower) + bass.]

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Examples

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Comments

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  • Hi I'm new - how would one add string bass to the list of

    synonyms for the double bass page?

    July 31, 2023

  • I've added it! (It will take a few days to show up because of our caching.) Thank you!

    July 31, 2023