Definition of "contrabassoon" [contrabassoon]

• The largest and lowest pitched of the double-reed wind instruments, sounding an octave below the bassoon. Also called double bassoon. (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.

• "You can also hear that the contrabassoon is more difficult to play, even in the hands of a top player like Lipnick."
• "“The contrabassoon is more resistant and you have to do more to make it work,” Lipnick says."
• "Lewis Lipnick, the contrabassoonist of the NSO, plays Schulhoff's piece on the contrabassoon, the instrument he has been playing for more than 40 years:"