Definition of "glockenspiel" [glock•en•spiel]

• A percussion instrument with a series of metal bars tuned to the chromatic scale and played with two light hammers. (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.

• "For all that, the 11 lavishly gifted "stars", plus actor Paul McGann reading out the instruments and adding a certain low-key sensuality to the word "glockenspiel", were a revelation."
• "The Bruce Springsteen Glockenspiel Addendum takes the few tracks on Born to Run which don’t contain glockenspiel, and adds the missing instrument."
• "The glockenspiel was a bit hit early on because composers always wanted to write for bells, and there was no practical way to do that."