to play guitar
48
2.0
- phrasal verb
- /pleɪ ɡɪˈtɑr/
:
tocar la guitarra
- She asked if I could play guitar for her birthday party.
- students play guitar
But overall, I would say most, I I play guitar most days.
- But overall, I would say most, I I play guitar most days.
- Again, I'm not amazing at it, but I can play guitar cowboy chords.
- I hang out with my wife and play guitar with my amigos.
- Nobody, nobody's going to hire me to play guitar in, in, in their band.
- Couple more minutes and I've never really learned how to play guitar.
- But I just know that I won't keep it up if I play guitar.
- Just like learning the piano or playing guitar.
- I just want to like make beautiful films or I just want to play guitar.
- I, I remember watching Jack White talking about Sun House, who could play guitar.
Examples
-
He's been playing guitar for a few weeks now.
-
I've been singing since the age of four and started playing guitar when I was eleven.
Blog text (12) -
Did you ever hear Dad play guitar?
-
I see you playing guitar up there.
-
When it came time to perform the song in public, the girl played guitar and did not sing.
Fiction book (2000) -
I hang out with my wife and play guitar with my amigos.
-
Well, I hope I get to hear you play guitar while you're in town.
-
Quinn Sullivan is thirteen years old and has been playing guitar since he was three.
Blog text (14) -
He does impressions and he plays guitar and he has deep pop culture knowledge and interest.
-
Danny plays guitar.
Synonyms
179
3.2
To pluck instrument strings with fingers or a small tool
6
3.7
To play a string instrument by sweeping fingers or a pick across the strings in a steady rhythm
4
9.9
Playing an instrument like a guitar or banjo by plucking strings
Antonyms
- Archaic
To stop doing an activity, especially to stop playing music for good
How Well
48
2.0
45
4.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to perform music using a guitar' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'play' (to perform music on an instrument) with 'guitar' (a stringed instrument). This is a straightforward verb + object composition with no idiomatic shift, and the same logic exists cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both words will understand the MWE.
Etymology
The phrase play guitar comes from the simple image of someone using their hands or a pick to move the strings of a guitar, with the action play making music on the instrument. That's why it means 'to perform music using a guitar'.