Autoharp

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A string instrument having a series of chord bars attached to dampers (muting bars) which mute all the strings other than those that form the desired chord.

    "Mr. Droste is usually the more ethereal, with the sweeter voice and the gentler melodies; he was the one strumming an autoharp for “Lullabye,” while Mr. Bear tapped a glockenspiel, and Christopher Taylor played a flute."

Example

More examples

"Mr. Droste is usually the more ethereal, with the sweeter voice and the gentler melodies; he was the one strumming an autoharp for “Lullabye,” while Mr. Bear tapped a glockenspiel, and Christopher Taylor played a flute."

Etymology

From auto- + harp.

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.