trombone

[trom-bohn, trom-bohn]

noun

a musical wind instrument consisting of a cylindrical metal tube expanding into a bell and bent twice in a U shape, usually equipped with a slide (slide trombone).

Origin of trombone

1715–25; < Italian, equivalent to tromb(a) trumpet (< Provençal < Germanic; compare Old High German trumpa, trumba horn, trumpet) + -one augmentative suffix

Related formstrom·bon·ist

[trom-boh-nist, trom-boh-] /trɒmˈboʊ nɪst, ˈtrɒm boʊ-/, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for trombone

Contemporary Examples of trombone

There was never any one criterion for how every trombone or tenor saxophone or singer should sound.
The Stacks: John Coltrane’s Mighty Musical Quest
Nat Hentoff
October 18, 2014
Instead of spoofing it, Farmer Derek plays it on trombone in an open field.
Viral Video of the Day: Farmer Summons Cattle With ‘Royals’ Cover
Alex Chancey
August 4, 2014
While his trombone skills are decent, he certainly draws a crowd—or rather, a herd.
Viral Video of the Day: Farmer Summons Cattle With ‘Royals’ Cover
Alex Chancey
August 4, 2014
All you had to do was board with your submachine gun in a trombone case, as Martin McNally did at St. Louis airport in 1972.
When Hijackers Ruled the American Skies
Emma Garman
June 20, 2013

Historical Examples of trombone

The trombone blatted and the orchestra roared with laughter.
Melomaniacs
James Huneker
His voice was as thrilling as a trombone, and his words did not matter.
In a Little Town
Rupert Hughes
In summer, when they were in bloom, he used to sit there with his friend that played the trombone.
My Antonia
Willa Cather
And then, gee, a blast of the trombone and she would show them what a star was, a real one!
The Bill-Toppers
Andre Castaigne
And so he began again on the trombone; and the boys said, "Louder!"
Parks for the People
Various

British Dictionary definitions for trombone

trombone

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)

a person who plays this instrument in an orchestra

Derived Formstrombonist, noun

Word Origin for trombone

C18: from Italian, from tromba a trumpet, from Old High German trumba

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

Word Origin and History for trombone

brass wind instrument, 1724, from Italian trombone, augmentative form of tromba "trumpet," from a Germanic source (cf. Old High German trumba "trumpet;" see trumpet).

trombone in Culture

trombone

A brass instrument; the player can change its pitch by sliding one part of the tube in and out of the other. The tone of the trombone is mellower than that of the trumpet.