trombone
Americannoun
noun
-
a brass instrument, a low-pitched counterpart of the trumpet, consisting of a tube the effective length of which is varied by means of a U-shaped slide. The usual forms of this instrument are the tenor trombone (range: about two and a half octaves upwards from E) and the bass trombone (pitched a fourth lower)
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a person who plays this instrument in an orchestra
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of trombone
1715–25; < Italian, equivalent to tromb ( a ) trumpet (< Provençal < Germanic; compare Old High German trumpa, trumba horn, trumpet) + -one augmentative suffix
Explanation
A trombone is a brass musical instrument with a sliding bar that changes the pitch of the notes. You play a trombone by blowing in the mouthpiece and moving the slide. A trombone looks a bit like an extra-long trumpet, and in fact the word comes from the Italian tromba, "trumpet," and the suffix -one, "large." Like trumpet players, trombone players (also called trombonists) use embouchure, a method of holding the mouth, lips, tongue, and teeth as they blow into the mouthpiece.
Vocabulary lists containing trombone
Musical Instruments - Introductory
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Musical Instruments - Middle School
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Musical Instruments - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
And yet, sad trombone noise: I am definitely not the first nor the last person to observe that Hitler’s arch was a whole lot bigger.
From Salon • May 3, 2026
Colón, he explained, used his trombone to echo the sound of the Caribbean in New York and bridge the two cultures.
From BBC • Feb. 21, 2026
Raeburn’s early big-band version of Dizzy Gillespie’s “A Night in Tunisia,” with Earl Swope playing the melody on trombone, also points forward to the end of one era and the beginning of another.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 26, 2026
But I put a trombone next to those bad boys.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 18, 2025
Ms. Parker takes Madge’s trombone from me and expertly puts it away.
From "Muffled" by Jennifer Gennari
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
