harp

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harp

harp

(härp)

1. Music

a. An instrument having an upright triangular frame consisting of a pillar, a curved neck, and a hollow back containing the sounding board, with usually 46 or 47 strings of graded lengths that are played by plucking with the fingers.

b. Any of various ancient and modern instruments of similar or U-shaped design.

c. Informal A harmonica.

2. Something, such as a pair of vertical supports for a lampshade, that resembles a harp.

intr.v. harped, harp·ing, harps

To play a harp.

Phrasal Verb:

harp on

To talk or write about to an excessive and tedious degree; dwell on.

[Middle English, from Old English hearpe and from Old French harpe, of Germanic origin.]

harp′er n.

harp′ist n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

harp

(hɑːp)

1. (Instruments) a large triangular plucked stringed instrument consisting of a soundboard connected to an upright pillar by means of a curved crossbar from which the strings extend downwards. The strings are tuned diatonically and may be raised in pitch either one or two semitones by the use of pedals (double-action harp). Basic key: B major; range: nearly seven octaves

2. something resembling this, esp in shape

3. (Instruments) an informal name (esp in pop music) for harmonica

4. (Instruments) (intr) to play the harp

5. (tr) archaic to speak; utter; express

6. (intr; foll by on or upon) to speak or write in a persistent and tedious manner

[Old English hearpe; related to Old Norse harpa, Old High German harfa, Latin corbis basket, Russian korobit to warp]

ˈharper, ˈharpist n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

harp

(hɑrp)

n.

1. a musical instrument consisting of a triangular frame formed by a soundbox, a pillar, and a curved neck, and having strings stretched between the soundbox and the neck that are plucked with the fingers.

2. a harp-shaped implement or device.

3. a vertical metal frame shaped to bend around the bulb in a standing lamp and used to support a lamp shade.

v.i.

4. to play on a harp.

5. harp on or upon, to repeat interminably and tediously.

[before 900; Middle English harpe, Old English hearpe, c. Old Saxon, Old Norse harpa, Old High German harfa]

harp′er, n.

harp

Past participle: harped
Gerund: harping

Imperative
harp
harp

Present
I harp
you harp
he/she/it harps
we harp
you harp
they harp

Preterite
I harped
you harped
he/she/it harped
we harped
you harped
they harped

Present Continuous
I am harping
you are harping
he/she/it is harping
we are harping
you are harping
they are harping

Present Perfect
I have harped
you have harped
he/she/it has harped
we have harped
you have harped
they have harped

Past Continuous
I was harping
you were harping
he/she/it was harping
we were harping
you were harping
they were harping

Past Perfect
I had harped
you had harped
he/she/it had harped
we had harped
you had harped
they had harped

Future
I will harp
you will harp
he/she/it will harp
we will harp
you will harp
they will harp

Future Perfect
I will have harped
you will have harped
he/she/it will have harped
we will have harped
you will have harped
they will have harped

Future Continuous
I will be harping
you will be harping
he/she/it will be harping
we will be harping
you will be harping
they will be harping

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been harping
you have been harping
he/she/it has been harping
we have been harping
you have been harping
they have been harping

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been harping
you will have been harping
he/she/it will have been harping
we will have been harping
you will have been harping
they will have been harping

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been harping
you had been harping
he/she/it had been harping
we had been harping
you had been harping
they had been harping

Conditional
I would harp
you would harp
he/she/it would harp
we would harp
you would harp
they would harp

Past Conditional
I would have harped
you would have harped
he/she/it would have harped
we would have harped
you would have harped
they would have harped

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	harp - a chordophone that has a triangular frame consisting of a sounding board and a pillar and a curved neck; the strings stretched between the neck and the soundbox are plucked with the fingers aeolian harp, aeolian lyre, wind harp - a harp having strings tuned in unison; they sound when wind passes over them chordophone - a stringed instrument of the group including harps, lutes, lyres, and zithers lyre - a harp used by ancient Greeks for accompaniment
	2.	harp - a pair of curved vertical supports for a lampshade support - any device that bears the weight of another thing; "there was no place to attach supports for a shelf"
	3.	harp - a small rectangular free-reed instrument having a row of free reeds set back in air holes and played by blowing into the desired hole harmonica, mouth harp, mouth organ free-reed instrument - a wind instrument with a free reed
Verb	1.	harp - come back to; "Don't dwell on the past"; "She is always harping on the same old things" dwell ingeminate, iterate, reiterate, repeat, restate, retell - to say, state, or perform again; "She kept reiterating her request"
	2.	harp - play the harp; "She harped the Saint-Saens beautifully" music - musical activity (singing or whistling etc.); "his music was his central interest" play - perform music on (a musical instrument); "He plays the flute"; "Can you play on this old recorder?"

Translations

قِيثارقيثارَه

harfa

harpe

harppujankuttaa

harfa

hárfa

harpa

arpa arpeggiare continuare a battere su suonare l'arpa

ハープ

하프

arfaarfininkaskalbėti vieną ir tą patį

arfa

harfă

harfa

harpa

พิณตั้ง

arpharp

đàn hạc

竖琴

harp

[hɑːp] N → arpa f

harp on VI + ADV to harp on (about) → estar siempre con la misma historia (de), machacar (sobre)
stop harping on! → ¡no machaques!, ¡corta el rollo!

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

harp

[ˈhɑː^rp]

n → harpe f

harp on

vi
to harp on about sth → parler tout le temps de qch

harp

n → Harfe f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

harp

[hɑːp] n → arpa

harp on vi + adv (fam) to harp on (about) → continuare a menarla (con)

harp

(haːp) noun

a usually large musical instrument which is held upright, and which has many strings which are plucked with the fingers.

ˈharpist noun

harp on (about)

to keep on talking about. He's forever harping on (about his low wages); She keeps harping on his faults.

harp

→ قِيثار harfa harpe Harfe άρπα arpa harppu harpe harfa arpa ハープ 하프 harp harpe harfa harpa арфа harpa พิณตั้ง harp đàn hạc 竖琴

References in classic literature ?

"Open the door of the cats' room, Peter; and bring me my harp. Don't suppose that you are going to listen to a great player, Mr.

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"It was called 'The Christmas Harp.' Would you like to hear it?

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He seemed to be a strolling minstrel, for he bore a harp in his hand, which he thrummed, while his lusty tenor voice rang out with--

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You want to set on your bed nights before you go to sleep, and early in the mornings, and play your jews- harp; play 'The Last Link is Broken' -- that's the thing that 'll scoop a rat quicker 'n anything else; and when you've played about two minutes you'll see all the rats, and the snakes, and spiders, and things begin to feel worried about you, and come.

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Vanni gave the signal, and the harp struck up `Home, Sweet Home,' all Black Hawk knew it was ten o'clock.

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Notwithstanding the prescription of the genial hermit, with which his guest willingly complied, he found it no easy matter to bring the harp to harmony.

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Then in what sort of partnership is the just man a better partner than the harp-player, as in playing the harp the harp-player is certainly a better partner than the just man?

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Bertram," said she, "I have tidings of my harp at last.

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In the other he held a harp of a pattern which I had hitherto only seen in pictures.

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Kwaque possessed a jews' harp, and, whenever the world of the Makambo and the servitude to the steward grew wearisome, he could transport himself to King William Island by thrusting the primitive instrument between his jaws and fanning weird rhythms from it with his hand, and when he thus crossed space and time, Michael sang-- or howled, rather, though his howl possessed the same soft mellowness as Jerry's.

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Or they learn in godly-gay style to play the harp with a hymn-poet, who would fain harp himself into the heart of young girls:--for he hath tired of old girls and their praises.

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ON a certain evening in the month of September (at that period of the month when Arnold and Blanche were traveling back from Baden to Ham Farm) an ancient man--with one eye filmy and blind, and one eye moist and merry--sat alone in the pantry of the Harp of Scotland Inn, Perth, pounding the sugar softly in a glass of whisky-punch.