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5 wordies list
fife |
(n): a small high-pitched flute similar to a piccolo; has a shrill tone and is used chiefly to accompany drums in a marching band
(n): a high-pitched woodwind instrument; a slender tube closed at one end with finger holes on one end and an opening near the closed end across which the breath is blown
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A small shrill-toned instrument of the flute kind, used chiefly to accompany the drum in military music. The fife is a transverse wind instrument with an embouchure hole and six fingerholes.
"And blasts with whistling fifes new rage inspire." (P. Fletcher, Locusts II, iv, 1627)
"And the vile squealing of the wry-necked fife..." (W. Shakespeare, "The Merchant of Venice")
And the drums are going a rap a tap tap
And the fifes they loudly play
Fare you well, Polly my dear
I must be going away.
--"The Gentleman Soldier," trad., arr. the Pogues, c. 1985