| Part of Speech | Definition | |
| Verb | 1. Of Harp.[Websters]
2. To have insisted or persisted.[Eve - graph theoretic] | |
| Verb Past Tense | 1. Past tense conjugation of the verb harp.[Eve - graph theoretic] | |
| Verb Base (harp) | 1. Come back to; "She is always harping on the same old things".[Wordnet]. 2. Play the harp; "She harped the Saint-Saens beautifully".[Wordnet]. 3. 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.[Websters]. 4. To play on the harp.[Websters]. 5. 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.[Websters]. 6. Base verb from the following inflections: harping, harped, harps, harper, harpers, harpingly and harpedly.[Eve - graph theoretic] | |
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), compiled from various sources, under license. | Top | |
Date "HARPED" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1369. (references) |
Specialty Definition: harp
| Domain | Definition | ||
| Noah Webster | 1: [Noun] An instrument of music of the stringed kind, of a triangular figure, held upright and commonly touched with the fingers.. | 2: [Noun] A constellation.. | 3: [Verb] To play on the harp. I heard the voice of harpers,harping with their harps. Rev.14.. | 4: [Verb] To dwell on, in speaking or writing; to continue sounding. He seems Proud and disdainful,harping on what I am-- Not what he knew I was.. Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary. |
| Aerospace | 1: HUBBLE ABERRATION RECOVERY PROGRAM. (references) | 2: Hyperbolic Analyzer Retarding Potential. (references) | |
| Bible | 1: 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). Source: Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary. | 2: The harp was the national instrument of the Hebrews, and was well known throughout Asia. Moses assigns its invention to Jubal during the antediluvian period. (Genesis 4:21) Josephus records that the harp had ten strings, and that it was played on with the plectrum. Sometimes it was smaller having only eight strings, and was usually played with the fingers. (references) | |
| Dream Interpretation | 1: To hear the sad sweet strains of a harp, denotes the sad ending to what seems a pleasing and profitable enterprise. 2: To play a harp yourself, signifies that your nature is too trusting, and you should be more careful in placing your confidence as well as love matters. 3: To see a broken harp, betokens illness, or broken troth between lovers. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted .... | ||
| European Union | Stringed instrument plucked with the fingers. Source: European Union. (references) | ||
| Library Science | A shortening of "French harp," or harmonica. (references) | ||
| Literature | 1: "Still harping on my daughter." - Shakespeare: Hamlet, ii. 1. 2: Harp The arms of Ireland. According to tradition, one of the early kings of Ireland was named David, and this king took for arms the harp of Israel's sweet Psalmist. Probably the harp is altogether a blunder, arising from the triangle invented in the reign of John to distinguish his Irish coins from the English. The reason why a triangle was chosen may have been in allusion to St. Patrick's explanation of the Trinity, or more likely to signify that he was king of England, Ireland, and France. Henry VIII. was the first to assume the harp positive as the Irish device, and James I. to place it in the third quarter of the royal achievement of Great Britain. 3: To harp for ever on the same string. To be for ever teasing one about the same subject. There is a Latin proverb, Eandem cantilenam recinere. I once heard a man with a clarionet play the first half of "In my cottage near a wood" for more than an hour, without cessation or change. It was in a crowded market-place, and the annoyance became at last so unbearable that he collected a rich harvest to move on. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. | ||
| Mechanical Engineering | A swivel plate arranged on a toolhead. Source: European Union. (references) | ||
| Military | High altitude release point. (references) | ||
| Slang in 1811 | HARP. To harp upon; to dwell upon a subject. Have among you, my blind harpers; an expression used in throwing or shooting at random among the crowd. Harp is also the Irish expression for woman, or tail, used in tossing up in Ireland: from Hibernia, being. Source: 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. | ||
| Wiktionary | 1: [Noun] (colloquial) A harmonica. (references) | 2: [Noun] A musical instrument consisting of an upright frame strung with strings that are stroked or plucked with the fingers. (references) | 3: [Proper noun] An English surname. (references) | 4: [Verb] (usually with on) To repeatedly mention a subject. Why do you harp on about a single small mistake?. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | Top | ||
Common Expressions: harp
| Expressions | Definition | ||
| Aeolian harp | A harp having strings tuned in unison; they sound when wind passes over them. Source: Wordnet 3.0 Copyright © 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. | ||
| Aeolian harp | An aeolian harp (or æolian harp or wind harp) is a musical instrument that is "played" by the wind. It is named for Aeolus, the ancient Greek god of the wind. (references) | ||
| Alfredo Harp Helú | Alfredo Harp Helu (born 1944) is a Mexican billionaire, and with a net worth of $1.6 billion (in US dollars), is No. 20 on Forbes’s list of "The World's Richest People" in 2004. (references) | ||
| Dundee Harp F.C. | Dundee Harp F.C. is a defunct Scottish football club that were based in the city of Dundee. Founded in 1879 they went out of business in 1906. (references) | ||
| Electric harp | Like electric guitars, electric harps are based on their acoustic originals, and there are both solid body and electro-acoustic models available. (references) | ||
| HARP (role-plying game) | The newest role playing game from Iron Crown Enterprises. HARP stands for High Adventure Role Playing, it is a modern system with fast and deadly combat, flexible character creation, and simple logical resolution. The skill based system is well designed and pervasive. Skills and talents are purchased through development point allocation, allowing any character to develop in any way they want. You want a sword wielding mage, or a thief with a talent for dispelling magic, no problem, and none of the typical archetype restrictions. (references) | ||
| Harp lute | The Harp-lute, or Dital harp, is one of the many attempts to revive the popularity of the guitar and to increase its compass, invented in 1798 by Edward Light. The harp-lute owes the first part of its name to the characteristic mechanism for shortening the effective length of the strings; its second name of "dital harp" emphasizes the nature of the stops, which are worked by the thumb in contradistinction to the pedals of the harp worked by the feet. (references) | ||
| Harp seal | 1: (Zo["o]l.), an arctic seal (Phoca Gr[oe]nlandica). 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 . Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary. | ||
| 2: Common Arctic seal; the young are all white. Source: Wordnet 3.0 Copyright © 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. | |||
| Harp Seal | The Harp Seal (Phoca groenlandica, also named Pagophilus groenlandicus), is a marine mammal of the family Phocidae that is found in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. They are separated into three populations that breed in different locations: the White Sea, the West Ice and the Northwest populations, of which the Northwest Atlantic population near Newfoundland, Canada is the largest. All three populations are hunted, mainly by Canada, Norway, Russia and Greenland. The most abundant Northwest population historically was greater than 30 million, but the population declined by 50-66% between 1950 and 1970 due to commercial hunting in Canada, and by 1970, was in serious trouble. Since 1970 it has nearly tripled in size to 5.2 million according to a peer-reviewed survey in 1999. (references) | ||
| Jew's harp | A small lyre-shaped musical instrument that is placed between the teeth and played by twanging a wire tongue while changing the shape of the mouth cavity. Source: Wordnet 3.0 Copyright © 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. | ||
| Jew's harp | The Jew's harp is one of the oldest musical instruments in the world. (references) | ||
| Jews' harp | A small lyre-shaped musical instrument that is placed between the teeth and played by twanging a wire tongue while changing the shape of the mouth cavity. Source: Wordnet 3.0 Copyright © 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. | ||
| Kafir harp | The Kafir harp is a harp used by the Kafirs of Afghanistan. (references) | ||
| Laser harp | A laser harp is an electronic musical instrument consisting of several laser beams to be blocked, in analogy with the plucking of the strings of a harp, in order to produce sounds. It is famously used by Jean-Michel Jarre in his concerts. (references) | ||
| Metal harp | A theoretical instrument built with the same framework as the classical wooden harp; with the exception that the wood would be cast metal. The resonating sound should be tighter and would produce sounds that would be typical in a techno beat. (references) | ||
| Mouth harp | 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. Source: Wordnet 3.0 Copyright © 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. | ||
| Project HARP | Project HARP, short for High Altitude Research Project, was a joint project of The Pentagon and the Canadian Department of National Defence created with the goal of studying ballistics of re-entry vehicles at low cost; whereas most such projects used expensive (and failure-prone) rockets, HARP used a very large gun to fire the models to high altitudes and speeds. Started in 1961, it was created largely due to lobbying from Gerald Bull, a controversial but highly successful ballistics engineer who went on to head the project. His ultimate goal was to fire a payload into space from a gun, and many have suggested that the ballistics study was offered up simply to gain funding. The project received just over 10 million dollars during its lifetime. (references) | ||
| Southwest Texas Sacred Harp Singing Convention | The Southwest Texas Sacred Harp Singing Convention is an annual gathering of shape note singers. Songs are sung a cappella from the Sacred Harp tunebook. The Convention was organized on April 28, 1900 at the Round Top School House, in Caldwell County, Texas, as the South Union Singing Convention. It is the second oldest continuous Sacred Harp convention in Texas. (references) | ||
| Triple harp | It is the Triple Harp which lays claim to the prime place in the history of the harp in Wales. This harp has three rows of strings: the two outer rows are tuned to the diatonic scale and the semitones are in the central row. This harp originated in Italy in the sixteenth century as a low headed instrument. Soon, towards the end of 1600s, it arrived in Wales where it developed a high head and was larger in size, and soon became known as the Welsh or Triple Harp. (references) | ||
| Wind harp | A harp having strings tuned in unison; they sound when wind passes over them. Source: Wordnet 3.0 Copyright © 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | Top | ||
Specialty Expressions: harp
| Expressions | Domain | Definition | |
| Aeolian harp | European Union | Consists of a number of gut strings mounted on a sounding box; when placed in a current of wind it produces natural harmonics. . . used in gardens, etc. . . Source: European Union. (references) | |
| Celtic harp | Library Science | Also called "Irish or small bardic harp." Source: "A Study of California Folk Music," pp. 8-11. (references) | |
| French harp | Library Science | The harmonica. In the Appalachian South "French harp," often shortened to "harp," is the preferred term for the instrument. (references) | |
| HARP MAKER | Occupations | Shapes and fits harp components to assemble new and repair damaged harps, using handtools and machine tools: Selects wood which will produce desired tonal quality and measures and marks it to lay out design of components. Shapes wood and metal into various parts, using drill press and handtools. Glues wood parts together. Fits metal and wood parts together to form completed harp. Knots each string between soundboard and tuning pin, and turns tuning pin with key to adjust string pitch [HARP REGULATOR (musical inst.)]. Sketches ornamental wood carvings onto graph paper, from customer's description, and orders them made, or carves them himself. May repair damaged harps only and be designated Harp Repairer (any industry). (references) | |
| HARP REGULATOR | Occupations | Completes assembly of harps and tunes them: Screws action to neck, using handtools. Inserts tuning pins in neck. Knots each string between soundboard and tuning pin. Adjusts tuning pins and regulating disks to tune instrument, using handtools and electronic tuning device. (references) | |
| Harp seal | Computing | A Japanese silicon wafer producer. Source: European Union. (references) | |
| JEW'S HARP | 19th Century Satire | From Jew, a Hebrew, and Harp, a musical instrument, the Jew's musical instrument--being a "Sell low!" (Old spelling, Cello). Source: Foolish Dictionary, 1904. | |
| Jew's harp | Industry | An instrument of music usually made of iron and played by placing against the slightly separated front teeth its two parallel jaws, between which a steel tongue is made to vibrate. Source: European Union. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | Top | ||
Abbreviations & Acronyms: harp
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | ||||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field | |
| HARP | English | High-Grain Avalanche Rushing Amorphous Photoconductor | N/A | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | Top | |||
