Harp \Harp\ (h[aum]rp), n. [OE. harpe, AS. hearpe; akin to D.
   harp, G. harfe, OHG. harpha, Dan. harpe, Icel. & Sw. harpa.]
   1. A musical instrument consisting of a triangular frame
      furnished with strings and sometimes with pedals, held
      upright, and played with the fingers.
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   2. (Astron.) A constellation; Lyra, or the Lyre.
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   3. A grain sieve. [Scot.]
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   Aeolian harp. See under Aeolian.
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   Harp seal (Zool.), 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; their fur is white,
      and they are killed and skinned to harvest the fur.

   Harp shell (Zool.), a beautiful marine gastropod shell of
      the genus Harpa, of several species, found in tropical
      seas. See Harpa.
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	Harp \Harp\, v. t.
   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.
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         Thou 'st harped my fear aright.          --Shak.
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	Harp \Harp\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Harped (h[aum]rpt) p. pr. &
   vb. n. Harping.] [AS. hearpian. See Harp, n.]
   1. To play on the harp.
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            I heard the voice of harpers, harping with their
            harps.                                --Rev. xiv. 2.
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   2. 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. "Harpings upon old themes." --W. Irving.
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            Harping on what I am,
            Not what he knew I was.               --Shak.
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   To harp on one string, to dwell upon one subject with
      disagreeable or wearisome persistence. [Colloq.]
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	harp
     n 1: a chordophone that has a triangular frame consisting of a
          sounding board and a pillar and a curved neck; the
          strings stretched between the neck and the soundbox are
          plucked with the fingers
     2: a pair of curved vertical supports for a lampshade
     3: 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 [syn: harmonica, mouth organ, mouth
        harp]
     v 1: come back to; "Don't dwell on the past"; "She is always
          harping on the same old things" [syn: dwell]
     2: play the harp; "She harped the Saint-Saens beautifully"

	

	19 Moby Thesaurus words for "harp":
   French harp, Irish harp, aeolian harp, cithara, clarsach, dulcimer,
   harmonica, harmonicon, heptachord, hexachord, kazoo, langspiel,
   lyre, mouth bow, mouth harp, mouth organ, polychord, symphonia,
   zither

	

	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).