1. Plural of hautboy; a double-reed woodwind instrument of the Renaissance and Baroque periods, an early form of the modern oboe.
Usage: archaic; historical musical instrument

Examples

• The Renaissance ensemble featured hautboys alongside viols and lutes.
• Hautboys were popular in 17th-century court orchestras across Europe.
• The composer wrote a concerto for hautboys and strings.
• Musicians learned to play the hautboys from detailed instruction manuals of the period.
• The museum's collection includes several well-preserved hautboys from the Baroque era.