glassichords

Noun

glassichord (plural glassichords)

1. A 19th-century musical instrument made of glass plates that are struck by hammers or sticks.
   • A patent has been granted for the combination of the glassichord with the piano; and in the same connexion an improvement has been made in the tones of the glassichord itself, by a more elastic mode of suspending the strips of glass than has been before used.1844, United States. Patent Office, Annual Report of the Commissioner of Patents, page 514
2. Synonym of glass harmonica.
   • He revived and improved the harmonica, or glassichord, and extended his speculations to the finer arts; showing that he could taste and criticise even the compositions of a Handel!1879, Horace Wemyss Smith, Life and Correspondence of the Rev. William Smith

   Synonyms:

   glass harmonica

3. (figuratively) Anything that produces a similarly pure continuous sound.
   • The moveless, still air acted as a glassichord on the waters, which rang under the shrill voice of the singer.1867, Ersilia: or, The ordeal, page 130