fife1
noun fʌɪf
A kind of small shrill flute used with the drum in military bands.
（军乐队中与鼓合奏的）横笛- It consisted of thirty-two members, playing exclusively drums and fifes.
- William Ferman complained that whenever he chose to stay out all night playing the fife in a saloon, his wife would harass him.
- The standard fife, the old Renaissance treble, is pitched in B and has six finger holes.
- The priests trained in the bardic arts beat their drums, strummed on their lutes, and played on their fifes to a wild beat and a buoyant tune.
- Increasing sophistication of construction allowed the development of complicated drum tunes, played in combination with tonal instruments such as fifes or bagpipes.
- Other musical instruments included stringed instruments such as fiddles and harps, and woodwind instruments such as flutes and fifes.
- He singles one of them out - a musician, and tells him to play a tune on his fife.
- The Marine Band began as a fledgling band of fifes and drums through an act of Congress signed July 11, 1798 by President John Adams.
- He played the fife for military assemblies and the violin for dancing parties.
- Little adornment was on her, except a single piercing at the top of her pointed ear, but what caught Kira's attention was the fife at her waist.
- Amerindian men perform a dance in the local church to the accompaniment of fife and drums.
- The air came alive with the shrill whistling of the fifes, and the drums began pounding in rhythm with my heart.
- People were coming into the square from all sides, and down the street we heard the pipes and the fifes and the drums coming.
- On one side was a design of the three Revolutionary War patriots marching forward carrying the flag and playing a fife and drum, while on the reverse was a cowboy riding a horse, tall in the saddle.
- Wax candles covered the table everywhere, and a group of musicians played nearby on ‘fiddles, fifes, trombones, and a drum’ although they are not very talented; in fact, their songs really bother the narrator throughout his meal.
- The drums sound, the fife plays ‘Yankee Doodle,’ a tune for insulting colonists.
- The band is made up of a stringed guitar, drum, and fife.
- He played the fife and was a great lover of traditional music.
- Other events at the castle included 24 drummers who gave a special display involving drums, bugles and fifes, and an appearance of the Richmond Drummer boy, an important part of local legend.
- I have no doubt that the disuse of the fife and drum by one regiment after another, until they have become practically obsolete in our service, has been due to this very difficulty of providing adequate material and training.
whistle, penny whistle, flute, recorder
verb fʌɪf
[no object]archaic Play the fife.
〈古〉吹横笛- His deep interest in Irish culture and music prompted his research into the Lambeg drumming and fifing traditions of Ulster.
Derivatives
fifer
- A regiment so equipped, with its drum and fife corps of 12 drummers and 12 fifers, would be greatly enhanced in its aspect for military functions.
- Isaac Davis and one of his soldiers were killed instantly by the volley, and four Americans were wounded, including the fifer; the music abruptly stopped.
- Orders issued in 1791 and 1795 prohibited Eurasians from commissioned service in the army, except as drummers, fifers, and farriers.
- Its tradition stretches back to the fifers and drummers stationed with Hudson Valley minutemen during the Revolutionary War.
noun ˈfʌɪfəˈfaɪfər
Origin
Mid 16th century: from German Pfeife 'pipe', or from French fifre from Swiss German Pfifer 'piper'.
Rhymes
Fyfe, knife, life, pro-life, rife, still-life, strife, wife
Fife2
proper nounfʌɪf
A council area and former county of east central Scotland; administrative centre, Glenrothes.
Definition of fife in US English:
fife
nounfīffaɪf
A kind of small shrill flute used with the drum in military bands.
（军乐队中与鼓合奏的）横笛- Wax candles covered the table everywhere, and a group of musicians played nearby on ‘fiddles, fifes, trombones, and a drum’ although they are not very talented; in fact, their songs really bother the narrator throughout his meal.
- The drums sound, the fife plays ‘Yankee Doodle,’ a tune for insulting colonists.
- Other musical instruments included stringed instruments such as fiddles and harps, and woodwind instruments such as flutes and fifes.
- The Marine Band began as a fledgling band of fifes and drums through an act of Congress signed July 11, 1798 by President John Adams.
- The band is made up of a stringed guitar, drum, and fife.
- Amerindian men perform a dance in the local church to the accompaniment of fife and drums.
- Increasing sophistication of construction allowed the development of complicated drum tunes, played in combination with tonal instruments such as fifes or bagpipes.
- On one side was a design of the three Revolutionary War patriots marching forward carrying the flag and playing a fife and drum, while on the reverse was a cowboy riding a horse, tall in the saddle.
- Little adornment was on her, except a single piercing at the top of her pointed ear, but what caught Kira's attention was the fife at her waist.
- William Ferman complained that whenever he chose to stay out all night playing the fife in a saloon, his wife would harass him.
- He played the fife and was a great lover of traditional music.
- Other events at the castle included 24 drummers who gave a special display involving drums, bugles and fifes, and an appearance of the Richmond Drummer boy, an important part of local legend.
- I have no doubt that the disuse of the fife and drum by one regiment after another, until they have become practically obsolete in our service, has been due to this very difficulty of providing adequate material and training.
- He played the fife for military assemblies and the violin for dancing parties.
- It consisted of thirty-two members, playing exclusively drums and fifes.
- He singles one of them out - a musician, and tells him to play a tune on his fife.
- The priests trained in the bardic arts beat their drums, strummed on their lutes, and played on their fifes to a wild beat and a buoyant tune.
- The air came alive with the shrill whistling of the fifes, and the drums began pounding in rhythm with my heart.
- The standard fife, the old Renaissance treble, is pitched in B and has six finger holes.
- People were coming into the square from all sides, and down the street we heard the pipes and the fifes and the drums coming.
whistle, penny whistle, flute, recorder
verbfīffaɪf
[no object]archaic Play the fife.
〈古〉吹横笛- His deep interest in Irish culture and music prompted his research into the Lambeg drumming and fifing traditions of Ulster.
Origin
Mid 16th century: from German Pfeife ‘pipe’, or from French fifre from Swiss German Pfifer ‘piper’.