shofar

or sho·phar

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

/ ˈʃoʊ fər; Sephardic Hebrew ʃɔˈfɑr; Ashkenazic Hebrew ˈʃoʊ fər, ʃoʊˈfɑr /

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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.

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.

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Origin of shofar

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

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH shofar

chauffeur, shofar

Words nearby shofar

shoestring catch, shoestring potatoes, shoestring root rot, shoestring tackle, shoetree, shofar, shog, shogi, shogun, shogunate, shogun bond

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

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?
Simon Eichelkatz; The Patriarch|Ulrich Frank
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?"
A Manual for Teaching Biblical History|Eugene Kohn

British Dictionary definitions for shofar

shofar

shophar

/ (ˈʃəʊfɑː, Hebrew ʃɔˈfar) /

noun plural -fars, -phars, -froth or -phroth (Hebrew -ˈfrɔt)

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

Word Origin for shofar

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