concertina

UK: /ˌkɒnsə^rˈtiːnə/ US: /ˌkɑnsɚˈtinə/ ,(kon′sər tē′nə)

Inflections of 'concertina' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

concertinas

v 3rd person singular

concertinaing

v pres p

concertinaed

v past

concertinaed

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

con•cer•ti•na /ˌkɑnsɚˈtinə/   n., pl. -nas, v., -naed /-nəd/  -na•ing /-nəɪŋ/.  
n. [countable]

1. Music and Dance a musical instrument resembling an accordion.

v. [no object]
2. to fold or collapse in the manner of a concertina:
   The front and back of the car concertinaed in the crash.
con•cer•ti•nist, n. [countable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

con•cer•ti•na  (kon′sər tē′nə), n., v., -naed (-nəd), -na•ing 

(-nə ing), adj. 
n. 
1. Music and Dance a musical instrument resembling an accordion but having buttonlike keys, hexagonal bellows and ends, and a more limited range.
2. See concertina wire. 

v.i. 
3. to fold, crush together, or collapse in the manner of a concertina:
   The car concertinaed when it hit the truck.

v.t. 
4. to cause to fold or collapse in the manner of a concertina.

adj. 
5. of, pertaining to, or resembling a concertina:
   concertina pleats.
• compare concertino, seraphina a similar instrument apparently coined by the original instrument's inventor, English instrument-maker Charles Wheatstone (1802–75), who patented it in 1829
con′cer•ti′nist, n. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

concertina / ˌkɒnsəˈtiːnə/ noun

1. a small hexagonal musical instrument of the reed organ family in which metallic reeds are vibrated by air from a set of bellows operated by the player's hands. Notes are produced by pressing buttons

verb ( -nas, -naing, -naed)

1. (intransitive) to collapse or fold up like a concertina

Etymology: 19th Century: concert + -ina

ˌconcerˈtinist noun