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strum

/strəm/
/strəm/
IPA guide

Other forms: strumming; strummed; strums

To strum is to play a guitar or another stringed instrument by brushing the strings with your fingers. It's pretty easy to strum a ukulele, but it sounds better if you know some chords.

You might tell the guitar player in your band, "Strum a few chords of that song we wrote yesterday." You can also strum idly on your sister's banjo without playing actual chords, just by running your thumb down the strings. Strum is a noun, too, meaning "the sound or act of strumming." This word dates from the 18th century, and experts think it's imitative, sounding a bit like an actual strum.

Definitions of strum
  1. verb
    sound the strings of (a string instrument)
    strum a guitar”
    synonyms: thrum
    see moresee less
    type of:
    sound
    cause to sound
  2. noun
    sound of strumming
    “the strum of a guitar”
    see moresee less
    type of:
    sound
    the sudden occurrence of an audible event
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