Hautboy
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 An oboe or similar treble double reed instrument. dated
"I […] told John a Gaunt he beat his own name; for you might have thrust him and all his apparel into an eel-skin; the case of a treble hautboy was a mansion for him, a court […]"
- 2 a slender double-reed instrument; a woodwind with a conical bore and a double-reed mouthpiece wordnet
- 3 A reed stop on an organ giving a similar sound.
- 4 A tall-growing strawberry, Fragaria elatior, having a musky flavor.
"In May we have strawberries, which continue in season two or three months. These are of the wood kind; very grateful, and of a good flavour; but the scarlets and hautboys are not known at Nice."
Example
More examples"I […] told John a Gaunt he beat his own name; for you might have thrust him and all his apparel into an eel-skin; the case of a treble hautboy was a mansion for him, a court […]"
Etymology
From Middle French hautbois. Doublet of oboe and hautbois.
Related phrases
More for "hautboy"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.