xylophone

noun

1. Any musical instrument (percussion idiophone) made of wooden slats graduated so as to make the sounds of the scale when struck with a small drumstick-like mallet; the standard Western concert xylophone or one of its derivatives.

   “All I know how to play on my xylophone is "Mary Had a Little Lamb". Would you like to hear it?”

verb

1. To play a xylophone or to play something else as though it was a xylophone.
2. To move above a ridged surface or series of surfaces so as to hit every ridge, in a manner similar to playing quickly and sequentially on a xylophone.

   “my eager fingers xylophoning over the memories”

   “Like a cat, I arch into the back of the bench, my spine xylophoning along the slats while the tension of the day slowly drains out of me. I'm totally chill and mellow.”

   “The others waged active war, claws xylophoning across Jack's pinwheeling swords.”

   “His right hand, the good one, found one of Glass's ankles, pulled. Glass fell, her ulna, clavicle, pevis, and kneecap xylophoning along stair edges.”