Illustration of lute
: a stringed instrument having a large pear-shaped body, a vaulted back, a fretted fingerboard, and a head with tuning pegs which is often angled backward from the neck
luted; luting
: to seal or cover (something, such as a joint or surface) with lute
: a substance (such as cement or clay) for packing a joint or coating a porous surface to make it impervious to gas or liquid
Examples of lute in a Sentence
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Sophia Stewart, The Atlantic, 1 Aug. 2025
Dicey intonation in the final chorus and Mandane’s second-act aria aside, the group’s unity and expression was impressive, from exactly seesawing strings to Brandon Acker’s bleak, mournful lute under Artaserse’s first-act lament.
—Hannah Edgar, Chicago Tribune, 28 June 2025
The eclectic band includes a poet, an opera singer, a violinist, a pianist and two people who play the bandura, Ukraine’s traditional 62-string instrument that looks a bit like an oversize lute.
—Sal Pizarro, The Mercury News, 9 Nov. 2024
The device features hundreds of sounds and samples from ye olden days, including lutes, hurdy-gurdies, and Gregorian chants.
—Time Staff, TIME, 30 Oct. 2024
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Noun
Alejandro—a chronic hobbyist who also carves Elizabethan lutes and builds portable pasteurizers in a rural Northern California town—teaches Berg the minutiae of boatbuilding, such as how to gauge the moisture content of a piece of wood and how to ready a vessel for its maiden voyage.
—Sophia Stewart, The Atlantic, 1 Aug. 2025
Dicey intonation in the final chorus and Mandane’s second-act aria aside, the group’s unity and expression was impressive, from exactly seesawing strings to Brandon Acker’s bleak, mournful lute under Artaserse’s first-act lament.
—Hannah Edgar, Chicago Tribune, 28 June 2025
The eclectic band includes a poet, an opera singer, a violinist, a pianist and two people who play the bandura, Ukraine’s traditional 62-string instrument that looks a bit like an oversize lute.
—Sal Pizarro, The Mercury News, 9 Nov. 2024
The device features hundreds of sounds and samples from ye olden days, including lutes, hurdy-gurdies, and Gregorian chants.
—Time Staff, TIME, 30 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for lute
Cite this Entry
“Lute.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lute. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
lute
noun
: a substance (as cement or clay) for packing a joint (as in laboratory apparatus) or coating a porous surface to produce imperviousness to gas or liquid
lute
transitive verb
luted; luting
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