trompe

American

[tromp] / trɒmp /

noun

Metallurgy. a device formerly used for inducing a blast of air upon the hearth of a forge by means of a current of falling water.

trompe British

/ trɒmp /

noun

an apparatus for supplying the blast of air in a forge, consisting of a thin column down which water falls, drawing in air through side openings

"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

Etymology

Origin of trompe

Borrowed into English from French around 1820–30

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.

Along one wall, a 19th-century trompe l’oeil screen dramatizes the classical gentlemanly taste that dominated among Neo-Confucian elites.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 6, 2026

“Labyrinth” is fortified with trompe l’oeil wonders, but none are as powerful as a dream sequence resulting from Sarah lapsing into a hallucination after she bites into an enchanted peach.

From Salon • Jan. 24, 2026

A striking dress featured a trompe l’oeil effect, cleverly designed to appear two-dimensional.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 2, 2024

We marvel at the sureness of our eye, treating them like human trompe l’oeils.

From New York Times • Feb. 12, 2024

It was a kind of aural trompe l’oeil.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023