Wiktionary
n. A kind of three-stringed Japanese fretless lute
WordNet
n. a Japanese stringed instrument resembling a banjo with a long neck and three strings and a fretted fingerboard and a rectangular soundbox; played with a plectrum [syn: samisen]
Wikipedia
The , also called , is a three-stringed, Japanese musical instrument derived from the Chinese instrument sanxian. It is played with a plectrum called a bachi.
The Japanese pronunciation is usually "shamisen" but sometimes "jamisen" when used as a suffix (e.g., Tsugaru-jamisen). (In western Japan, and often in Edo-period sources, it is sometimes "samisen.")
The construction of the shamisen varies in shape, depending on the genre in which it is used. The instrument used to accompany kabuki has a thin neck, facilitating the agile and virtuosic requirements of that genre. The instrument used to accompany puppet plays and folk songs has a longer and thicker neck to match the more robust music of those genres.
Usage examples of "shamisen".
Heiko passed her shamisen to the other geisha and came to sit beside Genji.
Resting his head against the door, he heard the faintest possible plucking of a shamisen, like the idle sound of overflowing water.
Although the screens of the second room were dark and shut, it was where the sound of the shamisen emanated from.
The notes of a shamisen plinked out of the machine while Michiko posed with a closed fan pressed against her cheek.
Nozawa pulled the black cloth from his mouth and picked up a shamisen leaning conveniently against a nearby barrel.
The speakers twanged out a familiar riff on the shamisen as the database menu appeared.
When the music began, with that first thump of the drums and the twang of all the shamisens, and we danced out together like a string of beads-our arms outstretched, our folding fans open in our hands-I had never before felt so much a part of something.