a musical instrument of the wind kind, shaped much like the lute, only that it spreads and widens towards the bottom, and is sounded through a reed. The treble is two feet long; the tenor goes a fifth lower when blown open: it has only eight holes; but the bass, which is five feet long, has eleven.

The word is French, haut bois, q. d. "high wood;" and is given to this instrument because the tone of it is higher than that of the violin.