Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A small lutelike instrument with a typically pear-shaped body and a straight fretted neck, having usually four sets of paired strings tuned in unison or octaves.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A musical instrument of the lute class, having from four to six single or double metallic strings, which are stretched over an almond-shaped body, and a neck with numerous frets. It is played with a plectrum of tortoise-shell held in the right hand. The tuning of the strings varies somewhat, but the compass is usually about three octaves upward from the G next below middle C. The tone is tinkling, but penetrating and agreeable.
Wiktionary
- n. music A stringed instrument and a member of the lute family, having eight strings in four courses, frequently tuned as a violin. They have either a bowl back or a flat back.
- n. A kitchen tool used for slicing vegetables (usually spelled mandoline).
- n. military An RAF World War II code name for patrols to attack enemy railway transport.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Mus.) A small and beautifully shaped instrument resembling the lute.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a stringed instrument related to the lute, usually played with a plectrum
Etymologies
- From French mandoline, from Italian mandolino, diminutive of mandola, a large stringed instrument. (Wiktionary)
- French mandoline, from Italian mandolino, diminutive of mandola, lute, from French mandore, from Late Latin pandūra, three-string lute, from Greek pandoura. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The note duration on mandolin is short, the fiddle notes are longer sustain, and we're all playing exactly the same notes.”
“waaah waaah somebody call mandolin a waaaaahmbulance. what a repuke wussy.”
“The mandolin was his first instrument, which he quickly traded in for the trombone.”
Phil Ramone and Danielle Evin: Dog Ears Music: Volume Thirty-Two
“Everybody knows that the mandolin is the "bad boy" of the lute family, and since Letle Viride is, in turn, the "bad boy" of mandolin players, this makes him exponentially bad.”
“In fact the mandolin is the instrument of my heart. ”
“Very Italian, too, is the "Serenade" with accompaniment à la mandolin, which is the most fetching number in the suite "Captive Memories," published in 1899.”
“Rösle also make a non-flimsy V grater for slicing potatoes for dauphinois - a tool my mother always called a mandolin.”
Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph
“Learning to pick out tunes on the mandolin is the easy part ... the difficulty comes from leaning proper techniques, timing, taste, and TONE.”
“Anyway i have taken my decision, since play the mandolin should be a pleasure, i don't think i should stress so much finding instruments, and trying to find as much money as i can to buy a middle / high level instruments.”
“Yes the mandolin is a great place to start your musical avocation.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘mandolin’.
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♥
ambrosia, inamorata, gossamer, lily-white, hummingbird, roucoulement, poppy, daisy, calypso, lunula, lamb, dove and 1526 more...
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eggplantia5's Words
scintillate, marvel, cranberry, oscillate, triumph, bamboozle, grimace, magical, book, hexagon, cipher, compendium and 2727 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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jagosaurus's favorites
Words I like mostly because of the way they sound and feel.
ticonderoga, petulance, snark, estimable, chickahominy, feline, gezellig, gneiss, shit, willy-nilly, shelter, coda and 366 more...
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aliko's Words
deli, turkey, bodrum, deniz, sunny, seks, tatil, hava, zeeman, captain, kapitein, kaptan and 256 more...
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colleen's words ii
sibilant, sundry, spindle, distaff, device, mortar, pestle, scythe, flail, thresh, frown, elementary and 495 more...
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curligirli0's Words
crapulous, swish, shiatsu, zen, xenoglossy, nincompoop, loquacious, pianissimo, onomatopoeia, imperturbable, silky, hosanas and 379 more...
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Two years
Okay, I admit it. I made a list of words my daughter knew when she was two years old.
bat, baba, a, abalone, about, acorn, adrienne, after, again, airplane, alison, all and 694 more...
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NakedFringe's Words
masticate, chamber, orchid, mandolin, yellow, pomegranate, conundrum, paradox, gyrate, calamitous, opalescent, cacophony and 533 more...
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bearfax december 2006
opulent, spot, kaffee, sift, cedar, pushy, buckwheat, zydeco, chemeketa, hood, blood, food and 107 more...
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Some Words I Love to Use
arcology, strumpet, crux, confected, pedant, bluestocking, cogitation, incensed, lovecraftian, cygnet, dactyl, adytum and 539 more...
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justin's Words
braii, boerewors, lekker, viva, pap, lipodystrophy, lacticacidosis, sharp, chakalaka, defaulter, eish, oof and 256 more...
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wordsmith III: revenge of wordie
sedimentary, igneous, segment, surfeit, unctuous, magma, garble, ransack, concubine, coincide, metamorphic, clastic and 208 more...
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mad the wordie
words that I like
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Gypsy
tambura, tambourine, lute, fiddle, mandolin, pan's pipes, amulet, bloomers, bodice, chemise, diklo, sash and 13 more...
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freshasspearmint's Words
spaniard, fantastic, tremendous, pachyderm, colloquial, sartorius, brouhaha, bourgogne, mandalay, lonelily, fortuitous, rhinoplasty and 35 more...
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