lyre

[US]/laɪə/
[UK]/'laɪɚ/
Frequency: Very High

Translation

n. a seven-stringed harp used in ancient Greece.

Example Sentences

"You, O king, have made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, and bagpipe and all kinds of music, is to fall down and worship the golden image.

Epic poetry and Tragedy, as also Comedy, Dithyrambic poetry, and most flute-playing and lyre-playing, are all, viewed as a whole, modes of imitation.

You, O king, have made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe, and all kinds of music shall fall down and worship the golden image;

learn to play the lyre

lyre music in ancient Greece

Real-world Examples

Cold currents thrid, and turn to rhythmic tidal lyres.

Source: Selected Literary Poems

Camma plays her lyre and sings to them.

Source: Bilingual Edition of TED-Ed Selected Speeches

Verses like these were chanted at feasts by Greek minstrels as they played their lyres.

Source: A Brief History of the World

Whenever he played the lyre, any animal or bird nearby would stop and listen, spellbound.

Source: BBC Reading Classics to Learn Vocabulary

The girl, dressed in embroidered draperies, holding the lyre stares at Orpheus's head in a melancholic way.

Source: Curious Muse

The whistle of the locomotive, more powerful than Amphion's lyre, was about to bid them rise from American soil.

Source: Around the World in Eighty Days

With his gold lyre and his sweet voice he led the choir of the Muses.

Source: Prose reading

When Orpheus reached the gates of the underworld, he began to strum his lyre.

Source: TED-Ed (video version)

The artist showed a scene in which dead Orpheus's head lies on a lyre that represents his infinite musical talent.

Source: Curious Muse

Begin the music, strike the timbrel, play the melodious harp and lyre.

Source: 19 Psalms Musical Bible Theater Version - NIV

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