Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Xylophone \Xy"lo*phone\, n. [Xylo- + Gr. fwnh` sound.]
   1. (Mus.) An instrument common among the Russians, Poles, and
      Tartars, consisting of a series of strips of wood or glass
      graduated in length to the musical scale, resting on belts
      of straw, and struck with two small hammers. Called in
      Germany {strohfiedel}, or {straw fiddle}.

   2. An instrument to determine the vibrative properties of
      different kinds of wood. --Knight.