banjo

[ban-joh]

noun

plural

banjos, banjoes 

1. a musical instrument of the guitar family, having a circular body covered in front with tightly stretched parchment and played with the fingers or a plectrum.

banjo

/ ˈbændʒəʊ /

noun

1. a stringed musical instrument with a long neck (usually fretted) and a circular drumlike body overlaid with parchment, plucked with the fingers or a plectrum

2. slang,  any banjo-shaped object, esp a frying pan

3. slang,  a long-handled shovel with a wide blade

4. (modifier) banjo-shaped

   a banjo clock

banjo

1. A stringed musical instrument, played by plucking (see strings). The banjo has a percussive sound and is much used in folk music and bluegrass music.

Other Word Forms

• banjoist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of banjo¹

First recorded in 1730–40; compare Jamaican English banja, bonjour, bangil, Brazilian Portuguese banza; probably of African origin; compare Kimbundu mbanza a plucked string instrument

Word History and Origins

Origin of banjo¹

C18: variant (US Southern pronunciation) of _bandore

Example Sentences

Hinds grew up in Birmingham, Ala., where he learned to play the banjo before turning to guitar.

From Los Angeles Times

Trump’s election and the YouTube algorithm teamed up like trap drums and banjo samples to worm a newer, angrier outlook into the brains of America’s young men.

From Salon

Hurley’s talents were manifold — he designed and illustrated most of his charming hand-drawn album art, and learned a diversity of instruments including banjo and fiddle.

From Los Angeles Times

Though the Tennessee-born comedian describes his voice as having more Southern twang than “a racist banjo,” it takes him less than two minutes onstage to show why he’s known as “the Liberal Redneck.”

From Los Angeles Times

Over a pleasantly discordant score of dreamy electronic chords and twanging banjos, Matthew finds pencil marks charting his growth as a child while these parents fuss over their own new baby.

From Los Angeles Times