Definition of "samisen" []

• Variant of shamisen. (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 geisha, with her face whitened with powder, and her lips painted a bright red, and her elaborately-dressed hair full of ornaments, sits down to a sort of guitar called a samisen and sings, but her song has no music in it."
• "Tak Shindo takes Western-Themed standards and rearranges them to feature classic Oriental instruments such as samisen, koto, gong, flute, temple blocks, and tree cymbals. ..."
• "Sugiyama however is captured and with his family meets a filthy torture death and I don't mean waterboarding, stress positions or loud samisen music, however he will not betray Toranaga-sama by withdrawing his resignation and allowing him to be impeached and invited to commit seppuku."