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Definition of "organ" []

  • Music An instrument consisting of a number of pipes that sound tones when supplied with air and a keyboard that operates a mechanism controlling the flow of air to the pipes. Also called pipe organ. (noun)
  • Music Any one of various other instruments, such as the electronic organ, that resemble a pipe organ either in mechanism or sound. (noun)
  • Biology A differentiated part of an organism, such as an eye, wing, or leaf, that performs a specific function. (noun)
  • An instrument or agency dedicated to the performance of specified functions: The FBI is an organ of the Justice Department. (noun)
  • An instrument or a means of communication, especially a periodical issued by a political party, business firm, or other group. (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.

Use "organ" in a sentence
  • "When rigid this organ is able to penetrate the female entrance, and there the further stimulation calls out the semen from their storehouses, the seminal vesicles, the testes and the prostate, and they pass down the channel within the penis (the urethra) and are expelled."
  • "The organ is played by Mark Williams, most famous in the United States for his work at the Byrd Festival, and the schola is made up of the men of the highly accomplished Cantores in Ecclesia directed by the legendary Dean Applegate."
  • "The organ is treated as a liturgical voice, taking up the reprise of the antiphon after each of the five psalms, and basing its improvisation on the melody of the original chant of the antiphon: canon, chorale etc,."