Definition of "xylophone"

xylophone

/ˈzaɪ.lə.ˌfəʊn/

noun
plural xylophones
1. (music) Any musical instrument (percussion idiophone) made of wooden slats graduated so as to make the sounds of the scale when struck with a small drumstick-like mallet; the standard Western concert xylophone or one of its derivatives.
verb
third-person singular simple present xylophones, present participle xylophoning, simple past and past participle xylophoned
1. To play a xylophone or to play something else as though it was a xylophone.
2. To move above a ridged surface or series of surfaces so as to hit every ridge, in a manner similar to playing quickly and sequentially on a xylophone.
  Quotations
  my eager fingers xylophoning over the memories
  2002, Amu Nnadi, The Fire Within: Poetry : Includes the Abiola Manuscript
  Like a cat, I arch into the back of the bench, my spine xylophoning along the slats while the tension of the day slowly drains out of me. I'm totally chill and mellow.
  2010 October 26, Barrie Summy, I So Don't Do Spooky, Yearling, page 27
  The others waged active war, claws xylophoning across Jack's pinwheeling swords.
  2015 July 7, Guillermo del Toro, Daniel Kraus, Trollhunters: The Book That Inspired the Netflix Animated Series TROLLHUNTERS!, Disney Electronic Content
  His right hand, the good one, found one of Glass's ankles, pulled. Glass fell, her ulna, clavicle, pevis, and kneecap xylophoning along stair edges.
  2020 August 4, George A. Romero, Daniel Kraus, The Living Dead, Tor Books