Definition

1. Noun:

   • A free-reed musical instrument: A small, portable, hexagonal-shaped instrument with bellows and buttons on both ends, played by squeezing the ends together and apart to force air through metal reeds, producing sound.
   • A type of coiled barbed wire: A type of defensive obstacle made from coils of barbed wire that can be extended like a bellows or compressed for storage and transport.

2. Verb:

   • To fold, collapse, or compress in a series of folds like the bellows of a concertina: To contract or crumple in a tight, accordion-like manner, often due to force or impact.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Musical Instrument):
  • The sailor played a lively folk tune on his concertina.
  • The sound of the concertina filled the small pub.
• Noun (Barbed Wire):
  • The army laid concertina wire along the perimeter of the base.
  • The fence was topped with sharp concertina.
• Verb:
  • During the collision, the front of the car concertinaed into the windshield.
  • The bus concertinaed when it hit the truck.

Advanced Usage

• "To concertina in/into": To collapse or be compressed into a much shorter length.
  • The train carriages concertinaed into each other during the derailment.
• "Concertina effect": A situation where objects or vehicles collapse into each other in a chain reaction, resembling compressed bellows.
  • The pile-up on the motorway caused a concertina effect involving twelve cars.

Variants and Related Words

• Concertinist (n): A person who plays the concertina.
  • She is a skilled concertinist in the folk band.
• Concertina wire (n phrase): The full term for the coiled barbed wire obstacle.
  • The border was secured with multiple layers of concertina wire.

Synonyms

• Noun (Instrument): Squeezebox, melodeon (a related type of button accordion).
• Noun (Wire): Coiled wire, razor wire (a similar but distinct type of obstacle).
• Verb: Crumple, collapse, compress, fold.

Related Phrasal Verbs/Constructions

• Concertina together: To be pressed or forced into a compressed, folded state.
  • The vehicles concertinaed together in the massive crash.
• Concertina out: To extend or stretch out from a compressed state (less common).
  • The new barrier concertinaed out to its full length.

Related Idioms

• No direct idioms are specific to the word "concertina." However, the verb form is often used descriptively in phrases related to accidents and compression.
  • The crash caused the cars to concertina.

Noun

1. free-reed instrument played like an accordion by pushing its ends together to force air through the reeds
2. coiled barbed wire used as an obstacle

Verb

1. collapse like a concertina