castanet

noun

cas·​ta·​net ˌka-stə-ˈnet 

: a percussion instrument used especially by dancers that consists of two small shells of hard wood, ivory, or plastic usually fastened to the thumb and clicked together by the other fingers

—usually used in plural

Illustration of castanet

• castanets

Examples of castanet in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

After my scream, the only sound was Nora’s teeth chattering like castanets. —Literary Hub, 20 May 2025

The producer devised it to sound impossibly huge and melodramatic — strings, handclaps, castanets — while Hal Blaine kicked it off with that thunder-clap drum intro. —Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 8 May 2024

And an eerie click-clicking of shivering teeth, like castanets. —Joyce Carol Oates, The New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2024

Percussive footwork was multiplied in tight unison, groups moved in handsome lines and circles, castanets trilled and soloists broke out in displays of expertise. —Brian Seibert, New York Times, 18 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Spanish castañeta, from castaña chestnut, from Latin castanea — more at chestnut

First Known Use

circa 1647, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for castanet

• alphabet
• arpanet
• bayonet
• biuret
• cigarette
• clarinet
• coronet
• coverlet
• dataset
• epithet
• ethernet
• heavyset

Kids Definition

castanet

noun

cas·​ta·​net ˌkas-tə-ˈnet 

: a rhythm instrument that consists of two small ivory, wood, or plastic shells fastened together and attached to the thumb and clicked together by the fingers

—usually used in plural

Etymology

from Spanish castañeta "castanet," from castaña "chestnut"