Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An Italian musical instrument of the lute family, but with a flat back and wire strings, like the guitar. It was first used in the sixteenth century.

Etymologies

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Examples

Comments

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  • Yesterday I saw Squid Ink Chitarra on a menu in Jack London Square. It was not a lute, it was a food something.

    October 18, 2015

  • Chitarra is the Italian word for guitar - unsurprisingly. However in this contect it is a reference to the device which was/is used to make pasta in certain parts of Italian - Umbria and Tuscany. It consists of a flat wooden box open at the top and one end. Across the large flat open side there are metal strings strung tautly a few millimeters apart . Pasta is rolled on to the strings which cut it into long spaghetti like pieces, which collect in the box.

    October 18, 2015

  • Thanks, Rowlandwithaw! I had a mushroom pizza instead, so I never saw its appearance.

    I also got stuck thinking about the Chitauri, the alien warriors that attack New York via a portal in The Avengers.

    October 18, 2015