Definition of "wind instrument" [wind instrument]

• A musical instrument, such as a clarinet, trumpet, or harmonica, in which sound is produced by the movement of an enclosed column of air, especially the breath, and excluding keyboard instruments such as the organ or accordion. Woodwind and brass instruments are both types of wind instruments. (noun)
• Informal A woodwind instrument, as opposed to a brass instrument. (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.

• "The sackbut was a wind instrument [see [1033] Music]; the sambuca was a triangular instrument, with strings, and played with the hand."