zither

plural zithers

1. entertainmentA musical instrument consisting of a flat sounding box with numerous strings placed on a horizontal surface, played with a plectrum or fingertips.

   1 more example

   “And where you ever got the idea that you'd hit it off with a vampire is beyond me.” “And for your information, she's not a vampire. She just likes to dress that way.” “Oh, I'm sorry. All palid pouty people look alike to me.” “Plus, she's a very talented zither player.” “Which you know all about and love so much. [chuckles] You realize you're really gonna humiliate yourself.” “Hey thanks, man. I really needed that positive reinforcement.” “No problem. Glad to be of service. Stop by any time! Good luck on your date!”

   1999 August 24, Japhet Asher and Peter Gaffney, “Insomnia” (5:30 from the start), in Downtown, season 1, episode 4, spoken by Alex Henson (Gregory Gilmore), archived from the original on 20 Mar 2021

2. translationsentertainmentRelated or similar instruments in other cultures, such as the Chinese guqin or Norwegian harpeleik; especially any chordophone without a neck, and with strings that pass over the body.

present singular third person zithers · participle present zithering · participle past zithered · past zithered

1. To play a zither.

   We wandered and fiddled and zithered and tambourined through France till the chills and rains of autumn rendered our vagabondage less merry.

   1906, William John Locke, chapter 9, in The Belovéd Vagabond, New York: John Lane, published 1911, pages 120–121

   2 more examples

   […] the fluting began again. Not alone this time, but, to Rosalie’s infinite surprise, accompanied on a zither. […] At this moment the fluting and zithering began again.

   1892, Edmund Gosse, chapter 3, in The Secret of Narcisse, New York: United States Book Company, page 100,102

   1999, Richard Hacken (translator), “Mary in Misery” by Peter Rosegger in Into the Sunset: Anthology of Nineteenth-Century Austrian Prose, Riverside, CA: Ariadne Press, pp. 413-414, We traveled far and wide: he played the zither while I sang an accompaniment. […] He keeps zithering, and I sing like before, and before long we’ve put together a pretty good pile of money . . .

2. To make a sound similar to that made by a zither; to move while making such a sound.

   c. 1890, May Ostlere, Dead! London: Trischler, Chapter 3, p. 76, Now [the wind] swithered through the badly-fixed windows, making zithering sounds as of an army of cold and frozen-out mosquitoes […]

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   The olives seemed weighed down under the weight of their fruit, smooth drops of green jade among which the choirs of cicadas zithered.

   1956, Gerald Durrell, My Family and Other Animals, Penguin, published 2000, Part Two, Chapter 10, p. 123

   Once I owned a bike […] It had no fenders and one gear only, and on the forks, both fore and aft, I clipped some plastic playing cards to zither loudly through the spokes.

   1985, Kim Chapin, chapter 19, in Dogwood Afternoons, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, page 178

   ‘Look at that!’ she shouted, already backing up the Jeep, its tyres zithering on the crusty surface.

   1996, Carl Huberman, chapter 38, in Eminent Domain, London: Macmillan, page 328

   The other men opened fire with pistols, slugs zithering past him with a dull whine.

   2004, Matt Braun, chapter 15, in Black Gold, New York: St Martin’s Paperbacks, page 158