trumpet

American  

[truhm-pit] / ˈtrʌm pɪt /

noun

• trumpets
  plural

1. Music.

   1. any of a family of brass wind instruments with a powerful, penetrating tone, consisting of a tube commonly curved once or twice around on itself and having a cup-shaped mouthpiece at one end and a flaring bell at the other.

   2. an organ stop having a tone resembling that of a trumpet.

   3. a trumpeter.

2. something used as or resembling a trumpet, especially in sound.

3. a sound like that of a trumpet.

4. the loud shrill cry of an animal, especially an elephant.

5. ear trumpet.

6. trumpets, any of several pitcher plants of the southeastern U.S.

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verb (used without object)

• trumpets,
  present (3rd person singular)
• trumpeted,
  past participle,  past
• trumpeting
  present participle

1. to blow a trumpet.

2. to emit a loud, trumpetlike cry, as an elephant.

verb (used with object)

• trumpets,
  present (3rd person singular)
• trumpeted,
  past participle,  past
• trumpeting
  present participle

1. to sound on a trumpet.

2. to utter with a sound like that of a trumpet.

3. to proclaim loudly or widely.

trumpet British  

/ ˈtrʌmpɪt /

noun

1. a valved brass instrument of brilliant tone consisting of a narrow tube of cylindrical bore ending in a flared bell, normally pitched in B flat. Range: two and a half octaves upwards from F sharp on the fourth line of the bass staff

2. any instrument consisting of a valveless tube ending in a bell, esp a straight instrument used for fanfares, signals, etc

3. a person who plays a trumpet in an orchestra

4. a loud sound such as that of a trumpet, esp when made by an animal

   the trumpet of the elephants

5. an eight-foot reed stop on an organ

6. something resembling a trumpet in shape, esp in having a flared bell

7. short for ear trumpet

8. to boast about oneself; brag

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verb

1. to proclaim or sound loudly

trumpet Cultural  

1. A brass instrument with a brilliant tone, much used in classical music, as well as in military music and jazz.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• trumpet-like
  adjective
• trumpetless
  adjective
• trumpetlike
  adjective
• untrumpeted
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• trumpets
  plural

Participles

• trumpeting
  present
• trumpeted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• trumpet
  simple
• trumpets
  simple
• have trumpeted
  perfect
• has trumpeted
  perfect
• am trumpeting
  progressive
• are trumpeting
  progressive
• is trumpeting
  progressive
• have been trumpeting
  perfect progressive
• has been trumpeting
  perfect progressive

Past

• trumpeted
  simple
• had trumpeted
  perfect
• was trumpeting
  progressive
• were trumpeting
  progressive
• had been trumpeting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will trumpet
  simple
• will have trumpeted
  perfect
• will be trumpeting
  progressive
• will have been trumpeting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of trumpet

1300–50; Middle English trumpette, trompette < French, equivalent to trompe trump ² + -ette -et

Explanation

A trumpet is a brass instrument that you play by blowing into its mouthpiece and pressing valves to form notes. If your older brother has trouble getting up in the morning, you can help him out by practicing your trumpet outside his bedroom door at six a.m. Trumpets fall under the category of brass instruments, along with tubas and saxophones. When you play a trumpet, you need to use something called embouchure, the proper shaping of your mouth and lips so your breath buzzes against the mouthpiece in just the right way. Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis were famous jazz trumpet players. As a verb, to trumpet is to announce something very loudly, as if you were playing it on a trumpet.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

trumpet trumpets trumpeted trumpeting

Sachie Mikawa said she was "heartbroken" when her trumpet, gifted to her by her late father, and her vintage melodica went missing from the Rotunda Theatre earlier this week.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

Sax outdid himself by also designing a trumpet with 13 bells; this instrument, later built by his son Adolphe-Édouard, resembles a brass Hydra.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

Half of the assembled musicians played on the film’s original soundtrack; star trumpet soloist Bijon Watson can even be seen wailing in the Lighthouse jazz scenes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026

Korkejian sourced many of those sounds from instruments she first picked up as a child, returning to the trumpet — her second instrument after piano — and experimenting with tuba and valve trombone.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

As Ms. Fender had announced, I was now trumpet section leader, totally focused on our next performance in December.

From "Maybe He Just Likes You" by Barbara Dee

Produced by Sandy Linzer, the record was simultaneously rooted in the past and present, blending hypnotic, churning rhythms with sympathetic strings, smooth saxophones and muted trumpets.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026

Not a day goes by that I don’t read a headline that trumpets the shortage of estrogen patches, which are used to treat the bothersome symptoms of perimenopause and menopause.

From MarketWatch ● May 12, 2026

And the minute I heard that guitar blazing, that was it for trombones and trumpets.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2026

The WBC allowed fans to bring in 16 “permissible instruments,” including bongos, cowbells, maracas and trumpets.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 2026

And some without order, for none could be found to command them in the City, ran to the bells and tolled the alarm; and some blew the trumpets sounding the retreat.

From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Bass campaign trumpeted the results, which had been reported in several local news outlets, but it had to delete the social-media post after Median Strategies acknowledged the poll was a sham.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

Reece was also concerned to see AI being trumpeted as a means to save money.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

While the tech has changed since then, the principles the court trumpeted today are evergreen.

From Slate ● Jul. 1, 2026

But the U.S. delegation boarded Air Force One on Friday afternoon with little else to show from a summit the president had trumpeted for weeks as an historic event.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2026

Then everyone cheered or bayed or neighed or trumpeted or clapped its wings and the royal pair stood looking solemn and a little shy, but all the nobler for their shyness.

From "The Magician's Nephew" by C. S. Lewis

Despite trumpeting pan-African and pro-independence messages, all three have welcomed Russian mercenaries to help fight jihadists loyal to either Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State group, who have run rampant across the three countries.

From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026

But it wasn’t just Fox News trumpeting the study.

From Salon ● Apr. 13, 2026

It is a profound psychological shift for a continent that has rebuilt itself after two world wars by trumpeting a message of harmony and joint economic prosperity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 16, 2025

But this year I started receiving emails in late September trumpeting an imminent Santa Claus rally.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 11, 2025

A horn’s brassy trumpeting split the air without warning, its summons rising from the distant Temple of Lkossa to reverberate across the Night Zoo’s lawns in long, sonorous notes.

From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray

Related Words

• advertise
• proclaim
• publish
• tout