pizzicato
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of pizzicato
1835–45; < Italian, past participle of pizzicare to pluck, pick, twang (a stringed instrument)
Vocabulary lists containing pizzicato
National Spelling Bee '14: Prelims Round 2
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Music - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Sinners,” which Warner Bros. landed in a competitive bidding war, announced itself in a teaser that was simply blood and pizzicato strings.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 1, 2025
At his signal, the strings went off on a pizzicato run, buoyed by harps and congas, before dissolving into a bass drum pulse beneath simmering horns.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 5, 2023
Violas slinked atop pizzicato bass punctuation as Noseda whipped up a whirlwind of violins.
From Washington Post • Nov. 6, 2022
There’s pointillistic syncopation from marimba, glockenspiel and pizzicato strings, with a backdrop of sustained chords: the ticktock of everyday minutiae held together by the promise of constancy.
From New York Times • Sep. 23, 2022
The opening theme in A-flat major is in two phrases of five measures each—a favorite rhythm with Brahms—given out by the clarinet over a pizzicato bass in the 'cellos.
From Music: An Art and a Language by Spalding, Walter Raymond
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.