Definition of "bourdon" []

• The drone pipe of a bagpipe. (noun)
• The bass string, as of a violin. (noun)
• An organ stop, commonly of the 16-foot pipes, medium in scale but with dark timbre. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• ""In regard to the word bourdon, why it has been applied to a pilgrim's staff, it is not easy to guess."
• "Pierre IV, who associated himself with Pierre de Clerck (a cousin german), made the great "bourdon" called Salvator."
• "Before us was the "bourdon," so called, weighing 2,200 pounds, the bronze monster upon which the bass note was sounded, and which sounded the hour over the level fields of Flanders."