shofar

or sho·phar

[ shoh-fer; Sephardic Hebrew shaw-fahr; Ashkenazic Hebrew shoh-fuhr, shoh-fahr ]

noun,plural sho·fars, Hebrew sho·froth, sho·frot, sho·fros [Sephardic Hebrew shaw-frawt; Ashkenazic Hebrew shoh-frohs, shoh-frohs], /Sephardic Hebrew ʃɔˈfrɔt; Ashkenazic Hebrew ˈʃoʊ froʊs, ʃoʊˈfroʊs/, Judaism.
  1. a ram's horn blown as a wind instrument, sounded in Biblical times chiefly to communicate signals in battle and announce certain religious occasions and in modern times chiefly at synagogue services on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Origin of shofar

1
First recorded in 1860–65, from Hebrew shōphār “ram's horn”

Words that may be confused with shofar

Words Nearby shofar

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use shofar in a sentence

  • The sounds of the shofar are very peculiar and harsh, quite unlike the notes of any modern instrument.

    Bible Animals; | J. G. Wood
  • The shrill call of the shofar, or the soft sense-enslaving tones of the organ?

  • Dr. Beigel has made a most singular discovery concerning the tones of the shofar.

    Bible Animals; | J. G. Wood
  • In the first place it never thunders at Tabernacles, and secondly, after the Rebbe's shofar-blowing!

    Stories and Pictures | Isaac Loeb Peretz
  • Then show the class a shofar or a picture of one and ask, "What is this?"

British Dictionary definitions for shofar

shofar

shophar

/ (ˈʃəʊfɑː, Hebrew ʃɔˈfar) /


nounplural -fars, -phars, -froth or -phroth (Hebrew -ˈfrɔt)
  1. Judaism a ram's horn sounded in the synagogue daily during the month of Elul and repeatedly on Rosh Hashanah, and by the ancient Israelites as a warning, summons, etc

Origin of shofar

1
from Hebrew shōphār ram's horn

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012