DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan
Harp, v. t. To play on, as a harp; to play (a tune) on the harp; to develop or give expression to by skill and art; to sound forth as from a harp; to hit upon.
Thou 'st harped my fear aright. --Shak.
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Harp, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Harped p. pr. & vb. n. Harping.]
1. To play on the harp.
I heard the voice of harpers, harping with their harps. --Rev. xiv. 2.
2. To dwell on or recur to a subject tediously or monotonously in speaking or in writing; to refer to something repeatedly or continually; -- usually with on or upon. “Harpings upon old themes.”
Harping on what I am,
Not what he knew I was. --Shak.
To harp on one string, to dwell upon one subject with disagreeable or wearisome persistence. [Colloq.]
Harp n.
1. A musical instrument consisting of a triangular frame furnished with strings and sometimes with pedals, held upright, and played with the fingers.
2. Astron. A constellation; Lyra, or the Lyre.
3. A grain sieve. [Scot.]
Aeolian harp. See under Aeolian.
Harp seal Zool., an arctic seal (Phoca Grœnlandica). The adult males have a light-colored body, with a harp-shaped mark of black on each side, and the face and throat black. Called also saddler, and saddleback. The immature ones are called bluesides; their fur is white, and they are killed and skinned to harvest the fur.
Harp shell Zool., a beautiful marine gastropod shell of the genus Harpa, of several species, found in tropical seas. See Harpa.
harp
n 1: a chordophone that has a triangular frame consisting of a
sounding board and a pillar and a curved neck; the
strings stretched between the neck and the soundbox are
plucked with the fingers
2: a pair of curved vertical supports for a lampshade
3: a small rectangular free-reed instrument having a row of
free reeds set back in air holes and played by blowing
into the desired hole [syn: harmonica, mouth organ, mouth
harp]
v 1: come back to; "Don't dwell on the past"; "She is always
harping on the same old things" [syn: dwell]
2: play the harp; "She harped the Saint-Saens beautifully"
Harp
(Heb. kinnor), the national instrument of the Hebrews. It was
invented by Jubal (Gen. 4:21). Some think the word _kinnor_
denotes the whole class of stringed instruments. It was used as
an accompaniment to songs of cheerfulness as well as of praise
to God (Gen. 31:27; 1 Sam. 16:23; 2 Chr. 20:28; Ps. 33:2;
137:2).
In Solomon's time harps were made of almug-trees (1 Kings
10:11, 12). In 1 Chr. 15:21 mention is made of "harps on the
Sheminith;" Revised Version, "harps set to the Sheminith;"
better perhaps "harps of eight strings." The soothing effect of
the music of the harp is referred to 1 Sam. 16:16, 23; 18:10;
19:9. The church in heaven is represented as celebrating the
triumphs of the Redeemer "harping with their harps" (Rev. 14:2).