Definition of "piano" []

• A musical instrument with a manual keyboard actuating hammers that strike wire strings, producing sounds that may be softened or sustained by means of pedals. (noun)
• In a soft or quiet tone. Used chiefly as a direction. (adverb)
• A passage to be played softly or quietly. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "With a fine piano or a violin, whether the effect is to be _piano_ or _fortissimo, _ the touch should be only with the amount of force needed to give a clear vibration, and the ease with which a fortissimo effect is thus produced is astonishing."
• "The computerised augmentation of the acoustic piano, the piano+, has developed from a combination of conventional and extended playing techniques, prepared piano and electronic real-time modifications of its sounds."
• "[5] The term piano trio is used to signify a piece for piano, violin, and 'cello, in full sonata form."