How to use concertina in a sentence

10 example sentences · noun, verb

Concertina means a musical instrument, like the various accordions, that is a member of the free-reed family of musical instruments, typically having buttons on both ends. Example: “The car concertinaed into the wall.”

Examples of concertina by meaning

nounA musical instrument, like the various accordions, that is a member of the free-reed family of musical instruments...

That concertina was a wonder in its way.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VIII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC

verbTo become compressed into a shape reminiscent of a concertina.

The car concertinaed into the wall.
Millions of years ago the mica schists surrounding the old Brandberg West Mine became folded and concertinaed by enormous horizontal pressures.2012, Amy Schoeman, Skeleton Coast, page ii

verbTo be drawn closer and farther apart repeatedly, or up and down, as if situated on a working concertina's folds.

This resulted in some fragmentation of the line as the boats in some cases closed to just 50 metres as they concertinaed in and out of sight of each other.2007, David W Cameron, 25 April 1915: The Day the Anzac Legend Was Born, page 36

More sentences with concertina

I managed to catch it before it landed and the icing rippled in the middle as the cake concertinaed.2016 October 20, G.E.Larrisey, From Care to Somewhere, page 131. From the entry one over the eight
A majority of polka bands use an accordion or concertina.2006, Richard March, “Polka”, in Richard Sisson, Christian Zacher, Andrew [R. L.] Cayton, editors, The American Midwest: An Interpretive…. From the entry squeeze box
Like the "concertina oompah" phase of the Dutchman style, the Slovenian polka sound emphasizes skill with a squeezebox.1999, James P. Leary, “Polka Music in a Polka State”, in James P. Leary, editor, Wisconsin Folklore, Madison, Wis.: University of…. From the entry squeeze box
Seven cars piled up in a concertina smash on the Pacific Highway this morning about four miles on the Brisbane side of Southport.1953 July 13, The Northern Star, Lismore, page 4, column 3. From the entry pile up
He was lying on the table with head pillowed on the broken concertina and body sheltered with the Federal Flag, looking like a martial corpse.1938, Xavier Herbert, “Dawn of a New Era”, in Capricornia, Sydney, N.S.W.: Angus & Robertson, →OCLC; republished New York, N.Y.: D.…. From the entry martial
On Tuesday a federal appeals court ordered the Biden administration to temporarily halt cutting the concertina wire on the border while a legal challenge plays out.2023 December 21, Paul J. Weber, “Texas sends 1st plane carrying over 120 migrants from southern border to Chicago”, in PBS NewsHour, PBS…. From the entry concertina wire

Meaning of concertina

noun A musical instrument, like the various accordions, that is a member of the free-reed family of musical instruments, typically having buttons on both ends.
noun Something multiply folded like a concertina, such as a folded book, a bus door or a set of picture frames that are folded together.
noun Coiled barbed wire for use as an obstacle.

Full definition of concertina

Questions about concertina in a sentence

How do you use concertina in a sentence?: Concertina is used as a noun and verb. For example: “The car concertinaed into the wall.”
What is a short sentence with concertina?: “The car concertinaed into the wall.”
What does concertina mean?: Concertina means a musical instrument, like the various accordions, that is a member of the free-reed family of musical instruments, typically having buttons on both ends.

Adapted from Wiktionary: concertina (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use concertina in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/concertina. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.