Definition of "shawm" [shawm]

• Any of various early double-reed wind instruments, forerunners of the modern oboe. (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.

• ""shawm" was a musical instrument resembling the clarinet."
• "Musicians entertained from the gallery above the kings, offering delicate love songs and lively tunes on harp, lute, and shawm."
• "I think he also plays the crummhorn, or maybe the shawm."