Lithophone
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Any musical instrument in which sound is produced by percussion of a stone.
"Lithophones are the oldest of the bar idiophones. We have already mentioned the ten note neolithic lithophone from Vietnam, but such instruments have died out."
- 2 Alternative form of lithopone. alt-of, alternative, countable, uncountable
"A sample of lithophone, one of the zinc sulphide whites examined by the author, had the following composition: […]"
- 3 A device by which the presence of bladder stones can be audibly detected. dated
"It is needless to dwell on the utility of the lithophone for finding vesical calculi and small fragments after lithotrity. The instrument in figured in Le Progrés Medica, 3 April, 1880."
Example
More examples"Lithophones are the oldest of the bar idiophones. We have already mentioned the ten note neolithic lithophone from Vietnam, but such instruments have died out."
Etymology
From litho- + -phone.
Related phrases
More for "lithophone"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.