Wiktionary
n. (context musical instruments English) A member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments that is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano.
Wikipedia
The alto saxophone, also referred to as the alto sax, is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s, and patented in 1846. It is pitched in E, and is smaller than the tenor, but larger than the soprano. The alto sax is the most common saxophone and is commonly used in classical music (such as concert bands, chamber music, and solo repertoire), military bands, marching bands, and jazz (such as big bands, jazz combos, swing music). The saxophone fingerings are all universal, so a saxophone player can play any type of saxophone.
Usage examples of "alto saxophone".
He blew a hand-carved ivory alto saxophone with a 4-1/2 reed and the sound was like nothing any of them had heard before.
He found some jazz on a Boston station - an alto saxophone elucidating 'All the Things You Are.
Hands folded over the body of his alto saxophone, a storklike man with retreating hair, black glasses, and a wide, expressive mouth leaned into the curve of the piano and attended to the sounds coming from his fellow musicians.
There was a clock-radio, an alto saxophone, a fully-fitted toiletries kit, a model of the Eiffel Tower with a thermometer in it - and on and on.
There was a clock-radio, an alto saxophone, a fully-fitted toiletries kit, a model of the Eiffel Tower with a thermometer in it —.
A geek because I played the alto saxophone and, as was required of almost every musician save the lucky violinists, if you played, you marched.
The sound of a very familiar alto saxophone playing 'Like Someone in Love' in Copenhagen in the year 1958 soared from the speakers, filled with the hand-in-hand mixture of joy and sadness, happiness and grief, that great jazz music conveys.