accordion
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A portable box-shaped free-reed instrument.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
uhkawrdeeuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
əˈkɔɹdiən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A portable box-shaped free-reed instrument; the reeds are made to vibrate by air from the bellows controlled by the player
A box-shaped musical instrument played by compressing or expanding its bellows while pressing its buttons or its keys, causing pallets to open, which allow air to flow across strips of brass or steel (reeds).
graphical user interface
A vertical list of items that can be individually expanded and collapsed to reveal their contents.
figurative or attributive
Something, or set of things (concepts, etc), which can be expanded (or extended) and collapsed, like the musical instrument's pleated, folding bellows.
verb
transitiveintransitive
To fold up, in the manner of an accordion
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A portable box-shaped free-reed instrument; the reeds are made to vibrate by air from the bellows controlled by the player
An 'accordion' is a musical instrument, often associated with folk music or specific cultural traditions. When used figuratively, it implies something that folds and unfolds, like accordion pleats in clothing.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where you'll really hear it
Music Class
“She learned to play the accordion in her music class.”
Festival Description
“The street fair featured an accordion player and lively folk dancers.”
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
An interior door that opens by folding back in sections (rather than by swinging on hinges).
An accordion with buttons rather than keys.
An accordion with a right-hand keyboard.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
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What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.