1. a hard, brittle resin obtained from pine trees, used especially by musicians to rub on violin bows and by athletes for grip

Examples

• The violinist applied colophony to her bow before the performance.
• Gymnasts use colophony on their hands to improve their grip on the bars.
• The amber-colored colophony left a fine powder on the violin strings.
• Baseball pitchers sometimes use colophony to get a better grip on the ball.
• The music store sold small blocks of colophony for string instrument players.
• Rock climbers carry colophony in their chalk bags for extra grip.