Mus. [Italian, f. acciaccāre to crush, pound.] An ornament or ‘grace’ in Music, consisting of a small note (or two at a distance of not more than a minor third from each other) performed as quickly as possible before an essential note of a melody, the single small note (or first of the two) being a semitone below the essential note; a ‘crush-note.’
1876. Troutb. & Dale, Music Primer, 47. The beat is a short acciaccatura, consisting of its first note only, a semitone below any note to which it gives special force. The twitch is a short acciaccatura consisting of its latter note only.
