Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A Russian musical instrument with a triangular body and three strings that produces sounds similar to those of a mandolin.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A musical instrument of very ancient Slavic origin, common among the Russians and Tatars, and, according to Niebuhr, also in Egypt and Arabia. It is of the guitar kind, and has two, three, or four strings, giving a minor chord. (Mendel.) It is now most used by the gipsies of eastern Europe.
Wiktionary
- n. music A Russian musical instrument, similar to a guitar, with a triangular body.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. a stringed instrument of Russian origin that has a triangular body and three strings.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a stringed instrument that has a triangular body and three strings
Etymologies
- From Russian балалайка (balalájka). (Wiktionary)
- Russian balalaĭka, of Turkic origin. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“They also had a trumpet/coronet player, a tuba player, and a dude who alternated among an oboe, drums, and what I think was an amplified balalaika.”
“Ah yes, a gypsy princess in disguise who yearns for the sound of the balalaika and prays for the return of Prince Vlad of Wallachia.”
“Super Mario theme played on a balalaika - Boing Boing”
“A trio of Russian folk musicians played guitar, mandolin, and the balalaika contra bass.”
“As the light streams through the windows of the minivan and reflects off Joni's earrings, Joel remembers the way the late-afternoon sun used to glint on the river as he made his way back from class to his off-campus apartment…the way his heart used to pound whenever he caught a glimpse of his downstairs neighbor, a balalaika player named Clarisse.”
“Skating to classic Russian balalaika music when I was thirteen, I had demanded a full Cossack costume with big, billowing pants, boots, and a little vest.”
“These members formed three music organizations: a Russian balalaika orchestra (fifteen pieces); a”
“The balalaika orchestra furnished music for most events.”
“The welfare committee visited the hospital barracks every Sunday afternoon and gave short musical performances, either with the gramophone or the balalaika orchestra.”
“He jumps on the table, strums a balalaika and gets a roomful of respected physicians to sing a dirty limerick with him, horrifying the professor.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘balalaika’.
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250 Extra Spelling Words
Some more words for intermediate and advanced spellers.
cultellarius, barouche, palanquin, badelaire, cavetto, tregetour, tergiversate, rhododendron, rhadamanthine, thyrsus, cappelletti, bradycardia and 238 more...
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Best words in Beatles songs
kaleidoscope, plasticine, porters, tangerine, marmalade, cellophane, turnstile, marshmallow, lingers, slither, restless, limitless and 91 more...
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wanderstar's Words
superlative, mulish, mumps, catatonic, aquiline, clandestine, phantasmagoria, chryselephantine, microfiche, mutineer, reprobate, ruthless and 312 more...
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Zing Went the Strings
lute, guitar, mandolin, violin, banjo, balalaika, sitar, pipa, autoharp, zither, kantele, guqin and 329 more...
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theastic's Words
cellar, stalemate, wrought, opal, tyrant, squelch, squab, linen, tartan, paisley, scope, siren and 395 more...
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madmelanie's Words
monkey, folderol, snark, snarky, flibbertigibbet, faith, asshat, pirouette, avuncular, exegesis, memento mori, verisimilitude and 379 more...
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sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
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Addenda to the 1923 Printing of Webst...
Many of these words first came into common usage during World War I, and reflect not only the technological and scientific leaps of the early part of the 20th century, but the new experience of glo...
abri, ace, acidosis, airdrome, air fleet, airplane, air raid, airworthy, altimeter, anaphylaxis, anociassociation, anti-aircraft and 292 more...
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Links Spelling Bee 2012
230 Words
gargalesthesia, bondieuserie, aguinaldo, alcazar, allosaurus, ambidexterity, ameliorate, anachronism, androcentric, ankylosaurus, anthropology, apartheid and 123 more...
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Tulip Names I
No rhyme or reason other than that I like the names. :-) For more flower fun, see these lists:
Rose words by mollusque
Rose varieties by mollusque
Tulip Names II: You Know ...abbey dream, abbey road, abodement, abra, abra elite, academician tstisin, acapulco, ace of diamonds, acropolis, ad hoc, adamo, addis and 597 more...
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State Spelling Bee 2011
Words from the California State Spelling Bee in 2011, from which I got fourth place.
cymbidium, jurisprudence, entourage, cauterize, dressage, roux, pomaceous, malfeasance, jactitation, eclogue, caryotid, obloquy and 126 more...
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Words Covered in Faery Dust (B)
words that evoke magic, mystery, mayhem, magnificence or anything else that glimmers in the grass
balcony, bailey, baguette, bairn, balalaika, baldric, balefire, baby's breath, ballet, balm of gilead, balsam, baluster and 188 more...
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Speak, Memory
Words gathered while reading Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov.
cracknel, shingly, glaucous, stretcherman, goodish, loden, gutticle, percha, plasticine, instar, wellhole, camera-lucida and 357 more...
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MacBean's Words
verisimilitude, antediluvian, schadenfreude, eviscerate, exsanguinate, onomatopoeia, aesthetic, apocryphal, aubergine, byronic, brouhaha, bordello and 523 more...
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Instruments
erhu, cittern, pandeiro, boomwhacker, xylophone, sistrum, maraca, oud, cumbus, domra, balalaika, harmonium and 10 more...
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music
octave, lyric, opera, flute, maracas, gong, tambourine, bass, trumpet, balalaika, lyre, bongos and 36 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for balalaika.
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