tuba

American  

[too-buh, tyoo-] / ˈtu bə, ˈtju- /

noun

tubas, plural tubae plural

1. Music.

   1. a valved, brass wind instrument having a low range.

   2. an organ reed stop of large scale with tones of exceptional power.

   3. an ancient Roman trumpet.

2. Meteorology. funnel cloud.

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tuba British  

/ ˈtjuːbə /

noun

1. a valved brass instrument of bass pitch, in which the bell points upwards and the mouthpiece projects at right angles. The tube is of conical bore and the mouthpiece cup-shaped

2. any other bass brass instrument such as the euphonium, helicon, etc

3. a powerful reed stop on an organ

4. a form of trumpet of ancient Rome

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tuba Cultural  

1. The lowest-pitched of the brass instruments. In orchestras, the tuba is usually held across the player's lap. In marching bands, the sousaphone is generally used as a low brass instrument because it was designed to be carried.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• tubae
  plural
• tubas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of tuba

1850–55; < Latin: trumpet; akin to tube

Explanation

A tuba is a large brass instrument that you play by blowing into its mouthpiece. In a marching band, the tuba player plays the lowest, deepest notes (and also has to lug around her tuba). The tuba is the biggest, and among the newest, of all the brass instruments. Tuba players create the low-pitched sound by making a kind of "buzz" with their breath against the mouthpiece and pressing the tuba's valves to form notes. In an orchestra, a tuba player holds the instrument on her lap, while a tuba player in a marching band would use a sousaphone tuba, or helicon, a lighter tuba that can be worn across a shoulder.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tuba tubas

“It must have been very confusing,” said Wafula, who plays the tuba.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026

Other Pacific states don’t celebrate and obsess over tuba, though, like Colima does.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026

Many come in for a little taste of tuba, she says.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026

Trombones bleat, a tuba bellows, drums are the heart.

From Salon ● Nov. 8, 2025

The Captain gave a great tuba laugh, sloshing his tea out onto his lap.

From "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson

For Bruckner, rising melodic scales, humongous fanfares with trumpets and horns and Wagner tubas galore and repeated patterns over and over by an unstoppable orchestra serve as injections of musical endorphins.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 11, 2025

Take my word for it: I own 10 tubas and have had more fun playing them than should be legal.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2025

He said this even as the community center that hosted our party made us close the doors because the tubas and trombones of the banda sinaloense were too loud.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2024

Other participants included a camel-mounted regiment with its mustachioed riders led by a shiny brass band with tubas.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 26, 2023

The Ring also called for the invention of subsequently dubbed 'Wagner tubas, a hybrid that combined elements of the French horn, trombone and euphonium.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall