banjon.

1764 J. Grainger Sugar-cane iv. 157 To the wild banshaw's melancholy sound.

1774 P. V. Fithian Jrnl. & Lett. (1900) 103 In the School-Room,..several Negroes & Ben & Harry are playing on a Banjo & dancing.

1790 C. Dibdin Coll. Songs II. 88 One Negro, wi my banjer.

1801 M. Edgeworth Belinda II. xviii. 185 ‘What is this, mamma?—It is not a guitar, is it?’ ‘No, my dear, it is called a banjore; it is an African instrument, of which the negroes are particularly fond.’

1801 Port Folio I. 270 The sound of Banneker's banjo would be as tuneable as Gallatin's spoken French.

1836 Southern Literary Messenger 2 162 I found a crowd of negroes..dancing..to the music of a banjo.

a1845 Negro Melodies (in Bartlett) Dey dance all night to de ole banjo, Wid a cornstalk fiddle, and a shoe-string bow.

1846 Punch 26 Sept. 126 The music-master of the regiment has been sent with a cornet-a-piston and a banjo to play to Queen Pomare.

1847 Punch 27 Feb. 94 The present is the age of bones and banjos.

1934 S. R. Nelson All about Jazz ii. 53 The banjolin was..soon discarded in favour of the Tenor Banjo.

1961 A. Birch in A. C. Baines Musical Instruments through Ages vii. 182 For the violinist who wished to play some more suitable instrument in the dance-band of the twenties there was the ‘tenor-banjo’ tuned in fifths.

1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Banjo, the brass frame in which the screw-propeller of a steamer works, and is hung for hoisting the screw on deck... The banjo is essential to lifting the screw.

1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXII. 147/2 [article Railways] The enclosed disc signal, commonly called a ‘banjo’, is a circular box..with a glass-covered opening, behind which a red disc is shown to indicate stop.

1964 Gloss. Letterpress Rotary Print. Terms (B.S.I.) 9 Banjo, the end adjusting duct screw.

1918 Chrons. N.Z.E.F. 30 Aug. 57/1 We are still wielding the old ‘Banjo’ in good style.

1925 in E. Fraser & J. Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words

1931 ‘D. Stiff’ Milk & Honey Route 199 Banjo, a short-handled shovel.

1933 Bulletin (Sydney) 22 Nov. 21/1 With banjo, pick and barrow I toil.

1954 Coast to Coast 67 All swung their banjos so hard that production costs dropped.

1960 N.Z. Listener 21 Oct. 7/3 ‘It's interesting work—anything's better than the banjo.’ ‘The banjo?’ ‘A shovel. Some people call it a Mexican side-loader.’

1966 H. Sheppard Dict. Railway Slang (ed. 2) 3 Banjo, fireman's shovel.