Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A ukulele.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Ukulele.
  • noun A passive or submissive male fictional character in a same-sex relationship; a bottom.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a small guitar having four strings

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From ukulele ("small four-string guitar") by shortening.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Japanese 受ける (ukeru, "to receive, to get").

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Examples

  • Sure, a uke is a pretty portable stringed instrument, but it hasn't got anything on this microscale guitar, 10 micrometers long, that requires an atomic force microscope or similar to pluck its tiny strings.

    Boing Boing: June 15, 2003 - June 21, 2003 Archives 2003

  • This "Tickler" brand uke is a one-of-a-kind fine art object which is entirely painted in oils on all sides by myself, Amy Crehore, with my trademark motifs: "The Banana Eater" image is on the back (from my "Monkey Love" series), a monkey and "little pierrot" combination are painted on the front.

    Boing Boing 2007

  • For people who have music in their heart but lack the inborn talent to express it, the uke is an easy instrument to master.

    Broadcast Noir in 1950s London Nancy deWolf Smith 2011

  • I would also have thought that your uke was a girl; he looks like he has pigtails and larger breasts than a couple of girls I used to know.

    Good news from h.naoto; Yaoi and images for your dreams Elizabeth McClung 2008

  • The best and fastest way to learn the uke is to be a part of an ukulele community.

    ReadABlog.com New Blogs and RSS Feeds 2010

  • Behind the uke is the album's biggest strength: a selection of some of the best beat sampling you're likely to hear this year.

    RSSMix.com Mix ID 706919 2010

  • The little instrument was so inexpensive and easy to play that by the early 1920s the uke was the most popular instrument in the American home and the first musical voice for millions of children.

    theithacajournal.com - 2010

  • Behind the uke is the album's biggest strength: a selection of some of the best beat sampling you're likely to hear this year.

    The Line Of Best Fit 2009

  • Behind the uke is the album's biggest strength: a selection of some of the best beat sampling you're likely to hear this year.

    The Line Of Best Fit 2009

  • Behind the uke is the album's biggest strength: a selection of some of the best beat sampling you're likely to hear this year.

    The Line Of Best Fit 2009

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