Real Dictionary

violin
variable noun: A violin is a musical instrument. Violins are made of wood and have four strings. You play the violin by holding it under your chin and moving a bow across the strings.

violin in American English
designating the modern family of stringed instruments played with a bow, characterized by four strings tuned in fifths, a lack of frets, a somewhat rounded back, and f-shaped sound holes
the smallest and highest-pitched instrument of this family, held horizontally under the chin, resting against the collarbone; fiddle
noun: the treble instrument of the family of modern bowed instruments, held nearly horizontal by the player's arm with the lower part supported against the collarbone or shoulder

violin in British English
noun: a bowed stringed instrument, the highest member of the violin family, consisting of a fingerboard, a hollow wooden body with waisted sides, and a sounding board connected to the back by means of a soundpost that also supports the bridge. It has two f-shap