Definition of "guiro" [guiro]

• A Latin American percussion instrument made of a hollow gourd with a grooved or serrated surface, played by scraping with a stick or rod. (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.

• "The guiro is the topic for today's 9: 30 Coffee Break"
• "On stage with the Afro-Cuban All Stars at New York City's Town Hall, De Marcos is at ease and enjoying himself, effortlessly conducting a sea of brass and percussion while keeping time on guiro, or wooden scraper."
• "I stroked the side of a guiro a grated Latin percussion instrument for the sound of the fuse, and Craig whacked a huge bass drum with a tympani mallet for the bomb—tsssss BOOM!"