oboe Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a slender double-reed instrument; a woodwind with a conical bore and a double-reed mouthpiece
    hautboy; hautbois.

WordNet

O"boe noun
Etymology
It., fr. F. hautbois. See Hautboy.
Definitions
  1. (Mus.) One of the higher wind instruments in the modern orchestra, yet of great antiquity, having a penetrating pastoral quality of tone, somewhat like the clarinet in form, but more slender, and sounded by means of a double reed; a hautboy.

Webster 1913