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Definition of elevator music
: instrumental arrangements of popular songs often piped in (as to an elevator or retail store)
Examples of elevator music in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web In another TikTok video, set to soothing elevator music, Dr. Rose Marie Leslie demonstrates proper handwashing: Wet hands.
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Kaya Yurieff, CNN, "'Social media is the disease and the cure': Doctors turn to Twitter, TikTok to share coronavirus news," 31 Mar. 2020 The company bought Muzak, known for its elevator music, from bankruptcy in 2011.
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Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN, "How stores choose which songs to play," 24 Dec. 2019 At other times ESSi make Sonic Youth sound almost like elevator music.
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John Adamian, courant.com, "Best bets: Our picks for this week’s concerts in Connecticut," 29 Sep. 2019 But since the first Governor Edwards finished his final term in 1996, voters have opted for something like political elevator music, choosing instead governors that ranged from the technocratic to the mildly boring.
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Richard Fausset, New York Times, "In Louisiana, Messaging During Storms Carries Big Political Weight," 15 July 2019 Angry white male entitlement is the elevator music of our age.
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Laurie Penny, Longreads, "Peterson’s Complaint," 12 July 2018 Don’t make elevator music, don’t make a generic country song.
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Kevin Williams, chicagotribune.com, "Taylor Swift covered Earth, Wind & Fire's 'September,' and shouldn't have — really," 13 Apr. 2018 In the same way that elevator music is meant to be heard, but not listened to, the halo around this fragrance is subtle and soft, to be passively noticed.
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Shannon Barbour, The Cut, "Off-White’s First Fragrance Collection Was Inspired by Elevator Music," 7 Mar. 2018 When something is public, whether a movie, a billboard, or elevator music or a Confederate flag on a pickup truck, there can be an openness, an essence of freedom and nakedness to confront or inspire the issue of the day or the past.
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Prince Shakur, Teen Vogue, "Artist John Sims Interview," 30 Oct. 2017
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'elevator music.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Time Traveler for elevator music
The first known use of elevator music was in 1963
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