Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The European barracuda.
  • noun Same as sennight.
  • noun A particular set of tones on a trumpet or cornet, different from a flourish. The word occurs chiefly in the stage directions of old plays.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete A signal call on a trumpet or cornet for entrance or exit on the stage.
  • noun (Zoöl.) The barracuda.

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

  • noun a signal call given on a cornet or trumpet, given for entrance on or exit from a theatrical stage
  • noun The barracuda.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Probably an alteration of the obsolete signet, 'signal'.

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Examples

  • "The priest first bandaged a fillet of red parrot feathers under the god's chin, which was called his pahau or beard; this bandage was made of a certain kind of sennet, which was tied on in a peculiar way.

    Evolution of Theology: an Anthropological Study Thomas Henry Huxley 1860

  • Some artist show them wearing sennet hats but as the Perry figures have caps I will stick with these.

    Uniforms: First British Expeditionary Force Feb-Mar 1884: 2nd Infantry Brigade legatus hedlius 2007

  • Some artist show them wearing sennet hats but as the Perry figures have caps I will stick with these.

    Archive 2007-04-01 legatus hedlius 2007

  • There were packages of baked fish, and dried fish, and of many other things which looked uncleanly and disgusting; but no matter what the package was, the leaf of the Ti tree was invariably the wrapping, tied round with sennet, the coarse fibre obtained from the husk of the cocoa-nut.

    The Hawaiian Archipelago Isabella Lucy 2004

  • Fortunately, though, the dog-fish had not done quite so much harm as he might; and, after mending a few rents by tying them together with pieces of sennet, which the old sailor had taken the precaution of having ready for such purpose beforehand, the trawl-net was as good as ever, allowing them to "shoot" it again for another dredge.

    Bob Strong's Holidays Adrift in the Channel John B. [Illustrator] Greene

  • The lower ends of the ridge poles, which sloped down from the top at an angle of some fifteen degrees, were then firmly fastened to the posts placed in the holes dug for them and lashed together with stout seizings of rope and sennet, so strongly that it would almost have taken a hurricane to have blown them away.

    The Wreck of the Nancy Bell Cast Away on Kerguelen Land 1887

  • He was a misanthropist at the unjust inequality that existed in the conditions of life, and often sung a verse of his own composition which gave him intense satisfaction, as he chanted it while sewing sails or making sennet.

    The Story of Paul Boyton Voyages on All the Great Rivers of the World Paul Boyton 1881

  • Last Saturday sennet, abaut seun in the evening (twas lownd and fraaze hard) the stars twinkled, and the setting moon cast gigantic shadows.

    English Dialects From the Eighth Century to the Present Day 1873

  • There were packages of baked fish, and dried fish, and of many other things which looked uncleanly and disgusting; but no matter what the package was, the leaf of the Ti tree was invariably the wrapping, tied round with sennet, the coarse fibre obtained from the husk of the cocoa-nut.

    The Hawaiian Archipelago 1867

  • 1881 Chequered Career 92 These young gentlemen are to be seen. .making sennet, the latter amusement being on a par with picking oakum.attrib. and Comb.

    Hammer Ser | SciFi, Fantasy & Horror Collectibles 2009

Comments

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  • (A sennet. Trumpets sound. Enter COMINIUS and TITUS LARTIUS; between them, CORIOLANUS, crowned with an oaken garland; with CAPTAINS and Soldiers and a HERALD.)

    - William Shakespeare, 'The Tragedy of Coriolanus'.

    August 28, 2009

  • Set of notes played on a trumpet signaling an approach or a departure.

    May 24, 2010