guitar

[ gi-tahr ]

/ gɪˈtɑr /

noun

a stringed musical instrument with a long, fretted neck, a flat, somewhat violinlike body, and typically six strings, which are plucked with the fingers or with a plectrum.

Words nearby guitar

guisard, guisarme, guiscard, guise, guising, guitar, guitarfish, guitarist, guitguit, guitry, guiver

Origin of guitar

1615–25; < Spanish guitarra < Arabic kītārah ≪ Greek kithára kithara

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for guitar

He played it through once, singing the lyrics softly to his own guitar accompaniment.
How Martin Luther King Jr. Influenced Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’|Peter Guralnick|December 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The guitar is tuned to E, and an Eminor chord on a guitar just rings and rings forever.
Yes, I Like Christmas Music. Stop Laughing.|Michael Tomasky|December 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This performance of Bob Dylan's 1971 blues tune features Clapton on guitar.
Joe Cocker's Deep Live Cuts|Asawin Suebsaeng|December 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Sid Vicious is stomping all over Steve Jones, about to smash in his guitar (again).
‘All Good Cretins Go to Heaven’: Dee Dee Ramone’s Twisted Punk Paintings|Melissa Leon|December 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST

He captures Ramone and his second wife, Barbara, together in the studio in one photo, him on bass, her on guitar.
‘All Good Cretins Go to Heaven’: Dee Dee Ramone’s Twisted Punk Paintings|Melissa Leon|December 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Guitar must be in Mexico by this time, but there will be no fighting there.
The Courier of the Ozarks|Byron A. Dunn
Ortiz performed charmingly on the guitar, and gave lessons in dancing.
The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Vol 2 (of 2)|Bernal Diaz del Castillo
The guitar was the music, with the usual accompaniments of singing, and snapping the fingers during the dance.
A Five Years' Residence in Buenos Ayres|George Thomas Love
His furniture consisted of a bed, a table, some flowers, and a guitar.
The Days of Chivalry|Ernest Louis Victor Jules L'Epine
He came to the party the other evening, and brought his guitar.
The Complete Works of Artemus Ward|Charles Farrar Browne (AKA Artemus Ward)

British Dictionary definitions for guitar

guitar

/ (ɡɪˈtɑː) /

noun

music a plucked stringed instrument originating in Spain, usually having six strings, a flat sounding board with a circular sound hole in the centre, a flat back, and a fretted fingerboard. Range: more than three octaves upwards from E on the first leger line below the bass staffSee also electric guitar, bass guitar, Hawaiian guitar

Derived forms of guitar

guitarist, nounguitar-like, adjective

Word Origin for guitar

C17: from Spanish guitarra, from Arabic qītār, from Greek kithara cithara

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for guitar

guitar

A stringed musical instrument (see strings) usually played by strumming or plucking. Guitars are widely used in folk music and, often amplified electronically, in country and western music and rock 'n' roll.