Tin Pan Alley

noun

: a district that is a center for composers and publishers of popular music
also : the body of such composers and publishers

Examples of Tin Pan Alley in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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From Tin Pan Alley to Broadway musicals, from American blues to country, bluegrass and our own unique varieties of Gospel, too, and our homegrown rock and roll, itself a mashup of America's many unique musical genres. Lee Habeeb, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 July 2025 Beginning with Tin Pan Alley at the turn of the 20th century, the music industry professionalized rapidly. Time, 5 June 2025 On the Canadian election, Senate Republicans, Tin Pan Alley, and more The Conservative Party was set to win Canada’s federal election after ten years of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberals. Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 1 May 2025 Set underneath a skylight, an antique piano in the center of the dining room pays homage to the location’s former identity as Tin Pan Alley, the center of the city’s music industry in the height of the Jazz Age. Kristen Tauer, WWD, 20 Sep. 2024 See All Example Sentences for Tin Pan Alley

Word History

First Known Use

1908, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of Tin Pan Alley was in 1908

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Cite this Entry

“Tin Pan Alley.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Tin%20Pan%20Alley. Accessed 21 Jul. 2025.

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