flute

flute — noun

1. a narrow woodwind instrument that a player holds out to the side and sounds by d

1.nounA2
Definition

a narrow woodwind instrument that a player holds out to the side and sounds by directing a stream of air across a hole close to one end.

Example

Mauricio plays the flute in the school orchestra every Wednesday evening.

collocation: play the flute

The wooden flute produces a warm, gentle tone that fills the room.

Common collocations
  • play the flute
  • flute player
  • flute solo
  • flute section
  • learn the flute
Synonyms
  • recorder

    simpler, end-blown instrument often taught to children; not the same as a flute

  • piccolo

    a smaller, higher-pitched version of the flute

Common Mistakes

She blew into a flute from the end.
She blew across the hole of a flute.
The player blows across a side hole, not into the end like a recorder.

2. a tall narrow drinking vessel on a stem, used for serving sparkling wine such as

2.nounB1
Definition

a tall narrow drinking vessel on a stem, used for serving sparkling wine such as champagne.

Example

The waiter filled each flute with sparkling wine for the wedding toast.

pattern: fill a flute with [drink]

Tara held her champagne flute carefully by the long stem, not the bowl.

collocation: stem of a flute / champagne flute

Common collocations
  • champagne flute
  • crystal flute
  • fill a flute
  • stem of a flute
  • raise a flute
Synonyms

Usage Note

Often called a 'champagne flute' to distinguish it from wider wine glasses or coupe glasses.

Common Mistakes

He drank water from a flute.
He drank water from a glass.
A flute is specifically designed for sparkling wine, not water or other drinks.

3. a long, narrow curved groove cut into the surface of something such as a column

3.nounC1
Definition

a long, narrow curved groove cut into the surface of something such as a column or a piece of fabric, serving as decoration.

Example

The ancient Greek column was decorated with twenty narrow flutes carved into the stone.

collocation: flutes on a column

The pleats on her dress had deep flutes that gave the fabric a textured look.

collocation: flutes in fabric / pleats

Common collocations
  • column flutes
  • carved flutes
  • deep flutes
  • narrow flutes
  • flutes on a pillar
Synonyms
  • groove

    a more general term for any narrow channel; less specific to decoration

  • channel

    a shallower, simpler cut; less decorative in connotation

  • fluting

    the collective pattern or process of making flutes

Usage Note

Most commonly appears in the plural form 'flutes' when describing columns or architectural features. In dressmaking, 'flutes' refer to parallel pleats or folds.

Common Mistakes

The flute on the column was painted gold.
The flutes on the column were painted gold.
This sense is almost always plural when referring to architectural grooves.

flute — verb

Word family

  • flutist
    nounB1
  • fluting
    nounC1
  • fluted
    adjectiveC1
  • flute-like
    adjectiveB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

These three woodwind instruments are often confused with the flute. The recorder is the simplest — a plastic or wooden tube you blow into the end, common in children's music classes. Unlike a flute, it has no keys and is held vertically. The piccolo is essentially a small flute that plays one octave higher; it uses the same sideways blowing technique but produces a brighter, more piercing tone. The clarinet looks similar to a flute from a distance but uses a single reed in the mouthpiece and is held in front of the body, not to the side. Its sound is richer and warmer in the lower register. For example: 'The orchestra's flutes carried the melody while the clarinets supplied harmony.' A flute player would never call their instrument a recorder, and a piccolo is always a specialised second instrument for flutists.

recorderpiccoloclarinet

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • play the flute
  • flute and piano
  • flute in an orchestra

Prepositions

Etymology

Old FrenchLatinProvençalEnglish

The word 'flute' entered English around the 1300s from Old French 'flaute', later 'fleute'. This French term may have blended Latin 'flatus' (a blowing, breath) with an Old Provençal or Germanic source. The instrument itself has existed in various forms for thousands of years, but the modern orchestral flute developed in 19th-century Europe with Theobald Böhm's key system.