[syn: harp, dwell]
2. play the harp;
- Example: "She harped the Saint-Saens beautifully"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Harp \Harp\, v. t.
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.
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Thou 'st harped my fear aright. --Shak.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Harp \Harp\ (h[aum]rp), n. [OE. harpe, AS. hearpe; akin to D.
harp, G. harfe, OHG. harpha, Dan. harpe, Icel. & Sw. harpa.]
1. A musical instrument consisting of a triangular frame
furnished with strings and sometimes with pedals, held
upright, and played with the fingers.
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2. (Astron.) A constellation; Lyra, or the Lyre.
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3. A grain sieve. [Scot.]
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Aeolian harp. See under Aeolian.
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Harp seal (Zool.), an arctic seal (Phoca Gr[oe]nlandica).
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 (Zool.), a beautiful marine gastropod shell of
the genus Harpa, of several species, found in tropical
seas. See Harpa.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Harp \Harp\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Harped (h[aum]rpt) p. pr. &
vb. n. Harping.] [AS. hearpian. See Harp, n.]
1. To play on the harp.
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I heard the voice of harpers, harping with their
harps. --Rev. xiv. 2.
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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." --W. Irving.
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Harping on what I am,
Not what he knew I was. --Shak.
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To harp on one string, to dwell upon one subject with
disagreeable or wearisome persistence. [Colloq.]
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
harp
n 1: a chordophone that has a triangular frame consisting of a
sounding board and a pillar and a curved neck; the strings
stretched between the neck and the soundbox are plucked
with the fingers
2: a pair of curved vertical supports for a lampshade
3: a small rectangular free-reed instrument having a row of free
reeds set back in air holes and played by blowing into the
desired hole [syn: harmonica, mouth organ, harp, mouth
harp]
v 1: come back to; "Don't dwell on the past"; "She is always
harping on the same old things" [syn: harp, dwell]
2: play the harp; "She harped the Saint-Saens beautifully"