banjo

[ban-joh]

noun

plural

banjos, banjoes 

1. a musical instrument of the guitar family, having a circular body covered in front with tightly stretched parchment and played with the fingers or a plectrum.

banjo

/ ˈbændʒəʊ /

noun

1. a stringed musical instrument with a long neck (usually fretted) and a circular drumlike body overlaid with parchment, plucked with the fingers or a plectrum

2. slang,  any banjo-shaped object, esp a frying pan

3. slang,  a long-handled shovel with a wide blade

4. (modifier) banjo-shaped

   a banjo clock

banjo

1. A stringed musical instrument, played by plucking (see strings). The banjo has a percussive sound and is much used in folk music and bluegrass music.

Other Word Forms

• banjoist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of banjo¹

First recorded in 1730–40; compare Jamaican English banja, bonjour, bangil, Brazilian Portuguese banza; probably of African origin; compare Kimbundu mbanza a plucked string instrument

Word History and Origins

Origin of banjo¹

C18: variant (US Southern pronunciation) of _bandore

Example Sentences

There’s no banjo, slide, or pedal-steel guitar here, and the arrangements zero in on simplicity, conveying harmonic structure and mood with only essential instrumentation, which keeps the emphasis on the songwriting.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

TVs across the state blared what became known as the “banjo ad,” in which a country singer crooned that Newby would bring “justice tough but fair.”

Read more on Salon

“We started talking ‘Scarecrow,’ and as pure coincidence, he said, ‘Oh, I just learned the banjo and the dobro,’” Murdy says.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Hinds grew up in Birmingham, Ala., where he learned to play the banjo before turning to guitar.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Trump’s election and the YouTube algorithm teamed up like trap drums and banjo samples to worm a newer, angrier outlook into the brains of America’s young men.

Read more on Salon