mandolin

Meaning

Noun

• a stringed instrument and a member of the lute family, having eight strings in four courses, frequently tuned as a violin, and with either a bowl-shaped back or a flat back
• a kitchen tool used for slicing vegetables (usually spelled mandoline)
• an RAF World War II code name for patrols to attack enemy railway transport and other ground targets

Origin

• From French mandoline, from Italian mandolino, diminutive of mandola, a large stringed instrument.