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A short vocal piece, resembling a catch in which three or four voices follow each other round in a species of canon in the unison.

ing sound. It has two principal sounds; one a more hissing, as in sack, this; the other a vocal hissing (the same as that of z), as in is, wise. Besides these it sometimes has the sounds of sh and zh, as in sure, measure. It generally has its hissing sound at the beginning of words, but in the middle and at the end of…

A church official whose functions are confined to the vocal department of the choir. Busby.

A piece of vocal music, especially one on an amoreus subject; a serenade. Or serenate, which the starved lover sings To his pround fair. Milton.

Of or pertaining to shade or darkness; hence, unfit to be seen or known; equivocal; dubious or corrupt. [Colloq.] "A shady business." London Sat. Rev. Shady characters, disreputable, criminal. London Spectator. On the shady side of, on the thither side of; as, on the shady side of fifty; that is, more than fifty. [Coll…

with the breath alone, without voice, as certain consonants, such as p, k, t, f; surd; nonvocal; aspirated.

. The apparatus is called also chemical harmonicon. -- Singing master, a man who teaches vocal music. -- Singing school, a school in which persons are instructed in singing.

A sound which, by a gradual change in the position of the vocal organs, passes imperceptibly into another sound.

Uttered, as an element of speech, with tone or proper vocal sound, as distinguished from mere breath sound; intonated; voiced; tonic; the opposite of nonvocal, or surd; -- sid of the vowels, semivowels, liquids, and nasals, and particularly of the consonants b, d, g hard, v, etc., as compared with their cognates p, t,…

A lyrical poem adapted to vocal music; a ballad.

Yielding sound; characterized by sound; vocal; sonant; as, the vowels are sonorous.

The treble; the highest vocal register; the highest kind of female or boy's voice; the upper part in harmony for mixed voices.

ttle clear light, some sparks of bright knowledge. Locke. Bright gem instinct with music, vocal spark. Wordsworth. Spark arrester, a contrivance to prevent the escape of sparks while it allows the passage of gas, -- chiefly used in the smokestack of a wood-burning locomotive. Called also spark consumer. [U.S.]…

athing developed suddenly and without fever, and produced by spasmodic contraction of the vocal cords. It is sometimes fatal. Called also laryngismus stridulus, and childcrowing. -- Spasmodic stricture, a stricture caused by muscular spasm without structural change. See Organic stricture, under Organic.…

ted below the glottis; -- applied to that part of the cavity of the larynx below the true vocal cords.

Applied to, or distinguishing, a speech element consisting of tone, or proper vocal sound, not pure as in the vowels, but dimmed and otherwise modified by some kind of obstruction in the oral or the nasal passage, and in some cases with a mixture of breath sound; -- a term introduced by Dr. James Rush in 1833. See Guid…

ted above the glottis; -- applied to that part of the cavity of the larynx above the true vocal cords.

Uttered, as an element of speech, without tone, or proper vocal sound; voiceless; unintonated; nonvocal; atonic; whispered; aspirated; sharp; hard, as f, p, s, etc.; -- opposed to sonant. See Guide to Pronunciation, §§169, 179, 180.

odidæ. In form and habits the swifts resemble swallows, but they are destitute of complex vocal muscles and are not singing birds, but belong to a widely different group allied to the humming birds.

A consonance or harmony of sounds, agreeable to the ear, whether the sounds are vocal or instrumental, or both. The trumpets sound, And warlike symphony in heard around. Dryden.