flute

/flu(ː)t/

flute noun: a woodwind instrument consisting of a tube with a row of holes that produce sound through vibrations caused by air blown across the edge of the holes, often tuned by plugging one or more holes with a finger; the Western concert flute, a transverse side-blown flute of European origin.

Image: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

flute (plural flutes)

A woodwind instrument consisting of a tube with a row of holes that produce sound through vibrations caused by air blown across the edge of the holes, often tuned by plugging one or more holes with a finger; the Western concert flute, a transverse side-blown flute of European origin.
- The breathing flute's ſoft notes are heard around, / And the ſhril trumpets mix their ſilver ſound; / The vaulted roofs vvith echoing muſic ring, / Theſe touch the vocal ſtops, and thoſe the trembling ſtring.1709, Alexander Pope, “January and May; or, The Merchant’s Tale, from Chaucer”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], published 1717...
- The group played huge drums placed overhead, along with flutes and a kotolike zither.2008 January 15, Jon Pareles, “To See (and Hear) the World in Five Hours: Unique Sounds Ripe for Import”, in The New York Times
Synonyms:

Western concert flute, edge-blown aerophone
(colloquial) A recorder, also a woodwind instrument.
A glass with a long, narrow bowl and a long stem, used for drinking wine, especially champagne.
- These are champagne glasses, says Peggy.
  No, I mean the tall ones, Jamie says.
  You're thinking of flutes, says Peggy. These are coupes.2018, Sally Rooney, “Six Months Later (July 2013)”, in Normal People
A lengthwise groove, such as one of the lengthwise grooves on a classical column, or a groove on a cutting tool (such as a drill bit, endmill, or reamer), which helps to form both a cutting edge and a channel through which chips can escape.
A semicylindrical vertical groove, as in a pillar, in plaited cloth, or in a rifle barrel to cut down the weight.
A long French bread roll, baguette.
An organ stop with a flute-like sound.
A shuttle in weaving tapestry etc.

Verb

flute (third-person singular simple present flutes, present participle fluting, simple past and past participle fluted)

(intransitive) To play on a flute.
(intransitive) To make a flutelike sound.
- The green turf was velvet underfoot. The blackbirds fluted in the hazels there.1895, S. R. Crockett, A Cry Across the Black Water
(transitive) To utter with a flutelike sound.
- “Oh, there's my precious Poppet,” said Phyllis, as a distant barking reached the ears. “He's asking for his dinner, the sweet little angel. All right, darling, Mother's coming,” she fluted, and buzzed off on the errand of mercy.1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XIII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC
(transitive) To form flutes or channels in (as in a column, a ruffle, etc.); to cut a semicylindrical vertical groove in (as in a pillar, etc.).

Noun (2)

flute (plural flutes)

A kind of flyboat; a storeship.

flute meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

flute in Hindi

woodwind instrument: बाँसुरी bā̃surī, वंशी vañśī

flute in Tamil

woodwind instrument: புல்லாங்குழல் pullāṅkuḻal

flute in Marathi

बासरी, बांसुरी

flute in Urdu

woodwind instrument: بانسری bānsurī

More languagesFewer languages

flute in Bengali: বাঁশি bãśi, বাঁশরি bãśori, মুরলি muroli
flute in Telugu: వంశి vaṁśi
flute in Malayalam: ഓടക്കുഴൽ ōṭakkuḻal
flute in Kannada: ಕೊಳಲು koḷalu
flute in Punjabi: ਵੰਝਲੀ vañjhlī
flute in Gujarati: વાંસળી vā̃saḷī
flute in Odia: ବଂଶୀ baṁśi
flute in Sanskrit: पिच्छोरा picchorā, मुरली muralī
flute in Assamese: বাঁহী bãhi
flute in Nepali: बाँसुरी, बाँसी, बांसुरी
flute in Pashto: فلوټ flǔṭ, نی nay, بغۍ baǧǝ́y, تولۍ tulǝ́y
flute in Tagalog: plawta, bangsi
flute in Arabic: نَاي nāy, أُخْدُود ʔuḵdūd
flute in Malay: serunai, seruling
flute in Indonesian: suling
flute in Persian: فلوت folut
flute in Thai: ฟลุต flút, ขลุ่ย klùi
flute in Vietnamese: sáo
flute in Myanmar: ပလွေ pa.lwe

Examples of flute in a sentence

The saxophones typically sit behind the flutes in a concert band.
If you listen carefully, you can hear the flutes mimicking the cello motive.
I've never been able to achieve a proper flutter on my flute.

All 40 example sentences with flute

Synonyms of flute

Western concert flute
edge-blown aerophone

Forms of flute

Noun
plural	flutes
Verb
third-person singular present	flutes
present participle	fluting
past participle	fluted
past	fluted

Past tense of flute: fluted

Plural of flute: flutes

Origin of flute

From Middle English fleute, floute, flote, from Old French flaute, fleüte, from Old Provençal flaüt, of uncertain origin. Perhaps ultimately from three possibilities: * Blend of Provencal flaujol (“flageolet”) + laüt (“lute”) * From Latin flātus (“blowing”), from flāre (“to blow”) * Imitative. Doublet of flauta and fluyt.

Compare French flûte (“a transport”)?, Dutch fluit.

Words formed from flute

Phrases with flute

Words that rhyme with flute

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about flute

What does flute mean?: Flute means a woodwind instrument consisting of a tube with a row of holes that produce sound through vibrations caused by air blown across the edge of the holes, often tuned by plugging one or more holes with a finger; the Western concert flute, a transverse side-blown flute of European origin.
What is flute in Hindi?: Flute in Hindi is बाँसुरी (bā̃surī), वंशी (vañśī). See Flute meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is flute?: Flute can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce flute?: Flute is pronounced /flu(ː)t/.
What is the plural of flute?: The plural of flute is flutes.

Words near flute in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: flute (page history and authors); flute (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); বাঁশরি (Bengali) (page history and authors); ਵੰਝਲੀ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); વાંસળી (Gujarati) (page history and authors); flute (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-flute.ogg.

Cite this entry: “flute.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/flute. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.