Definition of "scherzo" [‖Scher•zo]

• A lively movement, commonly in 3/4 time, introduced as a replacement for a minuet in pieces with multiple movements. (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.

• "Beethoven's most charming scherzo is based upon what might now be considered a skillfully handled Negro melody."
• "The first movement went at a tremendous, irresistible pace, the slow one stayed just on the right side of sentimentality, the scherzo was a tissue of delicate tracery, the finale joyously affirmative."
• ""Anagrams for Christophe Grozs contain the word scherzo and scherzi."