Definition of "staccato"

staccato

/stəˈkɑːtoʊ/

noun
plural staccatos or staccati
1. (music) An articulation marking directing that a note or passage of notes are to be played in an abruptly disconnected manner, with each note sounding for a very short duration, and a short break lasting until the sounding of the next note; as opposed to legato. Staccato is indicated by a dot directly above or below the notehead.
2. (music) A passage having this mark.
3. (figurative) Any sound resembling a musical staccato.
  Quotations
  The tumultuous noise resolved itself now into the disorderly mingling of many voices, the gride of many wheels, the creaking of waggons, and the staccato of hoofs.
  1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 160
adverb
comparative more staccato, superlative most staccato
1. (music) played in this style
adjective
comparative more staccato, superlative most staccato
1. (music) Describing a passage having this mark.
2. Made up of abruptly disconnected parts or sounds.
  Quotations
  The same nervous staccato laugh broke from her thin lips, and her fingers began to play with a long tortoise-shell paper-knife.
  1891, Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
  The water-level route, the whistle and the loud staccato exhaust of this great engine recalled most vividly memories of the New York Central Hudsons highballing along the Hudson River between Harmon and Albany!
  1960 October, P. Ransome-Wallis, “Modern motive power of the German Federal Railway: Part Two”, in Trains Illustrated, page 613