Castanets

//ˌkæs.təˈnɛts// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A percussion instrument (idiophone) of Spanish origin, consisting of a pair of concave shells joined on one edge by a string, held in the hand and used to produce clicking sounds; any hand-held percussion idiophone that can be played with the fingers, such as bones or spoons. uncountable
  2. 2
    (used in the plural) a percussion instrument consisting of a pair of hollow pieces of wood or bone (usually held between the thumb and fingers) that are made to click together (as by Spanish dancers) in rhythm with the dance wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
bonesbatterybellbellsbonescelesta

Example

More examples

"Each pair of castanets is played with one hand. The two pairs are not alike: one pair is "female" and sounds higher, the other is the "male" pair and sounds lower."

Related phrases

percussion idiophone

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