dulcimer — English Dictionary

Noun

1. A stringed instrument, with strings stretched across a sounding board, usually trapezoidal, played by plucking on the strings (traditionally with a quill) or by tapping on them (in the case of the hammer dulcimers).

   Examples

   A damsel with a dulcimer / In a vision once I saw: / It was an Abyssinian maid / And on her dulcimer she played, / Singing of Mount Abora.

   Accompanying himself with his dulcimer, a plectrum instrument of his own handicraft, Niles harks back to the balladeers of old.

   More examples (1)

   Played traditionally, the dulcimer sounds delightful with drones acenting the melody you are playing.

Noun

1. a stringed instrument used in American folk music; an elliptical body and a fretted fingerboard and three strings

   Broader terms

   stringed instrument

2. a trapezoidal zither whose metal strings are struck with light hammers

   Broader terms

   zithercitherzithern