guitar

gi-TAHR/ɡɪˈtɑɹ/gi-TAH/ɡɪˈtɑː(ɹ)/

Verbguitars, guitaring, guitared

3 meanings of guitar

1
nouncountable
A musical instrument with six strings and a long neck, played by plucking or strumming.
Like a hollow wooden box with strings you press and pluck to make sounds.
She learned to play the guitar when she was ten.
He bought a shiny new guitar for his birthday.
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2
nouncountable
Any instrument in the lute family that has a flat back and strings running along a flat neck.
Like how lions and house cats both belong to the cat family, many instruments belong to the guitar family.
Instrument makers group the ukulele and the bass with the guitar because all three share a flat back.
A flat back and strings lying alongside the neck make it a true guitar.
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3
verbcolloquialintransitive
To make music by playing a guitar.
We guitar on the back porch most summer evenings.
He guitared quietly while his sister sang along.
Note

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Origin

English took this word from Spanish guitarra. That came from Arabic qīṯāra, which came from Ancient Greek kithárā.