Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CYM'BAL, n. [L. cymbalum; Gr. κυμβαλον; It. cembalo.]

1. A musical instrument used by the ancients, hollow and made of brass, somewhat like a kettle-drum; but the precise form is not ascertained.
2. A mean instrument used by gypsies and vagrants, made of a steel wire, in a triangular form, on which are passed five rings, which are touched and shifted along the triangle with an iron rod held in the left hand, while it is supported in the right by a ring, to give it free motion. – Encyc.