pizzicato.

With the strings plucked rather than bowed.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• play pizzicato
• pizzicato strings

On the page

The cellist played pizzicato while the others sustained their notes.

Pizzicato, the phrase sounded like small steps across the empty stage.

Usage notes

Primary category: sensory / description. Forms: Invariable musical direction; do not invent comparative, plural, or tense forms. Related noun forms, where applicable, are noted by sense. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.