Hawaiian guitar

American  

noun

1. a six-to-eight-string electric guitar, fretted with a piece of metal or bone to produce a whining, glissando sound, played in a horizontal position usually resting on the performer's knees or on a stand, and much used by country music performers.

---

Hawaiian guitar British  

noun

1. a lap-held steel-strung guitar with a wood or metal body, tuned to an open chord and played with a slide Compare Dobro pedal steel guitar

---

Etymology

Origin of Hawaiian guitar

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

Their mother, a waitress, played the Hawaiian guitar, while their father worked at a Whitewater service station where the radio was tuned to country and western, pop and, on Saturday nights, the WGN “Barn Dance.”

From Washington Times • May 19, 2018

His father, an accountant and businessman, played Hawaiian guitar and accordion.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 15, 2018

The pilot played acoustic Hawaiian guitar through the headphones.

From The Guardian • Jun. 19, 2017

He also made instructional videos about ukulele, bottleneck blues, Caribbean rhythms and Hawaiian guitar.

From New York Times • May 2, 2013

She is the possessor of some very rare and interesting foreign instruments; among this collection is a Hawaiian guitar, the tiniest of stringed instruments, and also one of curious Portuguese workmanship.

From Polly Oliver's Problem by Wiggin, Kate Douglas Smith

Related Words

• acoustic guitar