cello

plural cellos · plural rare celli · alternative 'cello

1. A bowed bass instrument held between the knees.

   Fitzgerald saw that Hemingway, oppressed by his mother's influence, was "still rebelling against having been made to take cello lessons when growing up."

   2020 Aug. 9, Jeffrey Meyers, "Fitzgerald and Hemingway: A Tortured Friendship", The Article

   2 more examples

   I haven't always been this cool because I haven't always played guitar. I started out on the cello. Yeah, the cello is a wonderful, beautiful instrument. It's cool to be an adult that plays the cello. Being a kid that played the cello sucked, cause there's no way to be cool when your instrument is larger than you. When you walk to school with a cello you're like a wounded gazelle on the Serengeti, man. The bullies just smell you coming from a mile away.

   2006 Nov. 22, Rob Paravonian, "Pachabel Rant", 00:00:33

   And the cello concerto was strikingly different on Sunday: at Weill, the ensemble included two violinists and one violist, cellist, bassist and lutenist, but on Sunday four more violinists, a second violist and a harpsichordist were added to give the ripieno sections of the fast movements a heftier punch than the smaller group delivered.

   2009 January 20, Allan Kozinn, “Shafts of Sun in Winter From the Italian Baroque”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 26 Nov 2022

   Synonyms: violoncello

1. uncountablecellophane

   Chocolates arranged in a candy dish or basket, antique or purchased in accordance to^([sic]) the personal taste of the host/hostess, wrapped with cello wrap and tied with a lovely ribbon—decadent!

   2011, Ava Carroll-Brown, Where Is Your Mother?