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)
-
a person who plays this instrument in an orchestra
Other Word Forms
- trombonist noun
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
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.
The action is punctuated by booming sound effects — canned applause, the “wah-wah” of a sad trombone and a hyperactive electronic buzzer, among them — coming from a trigger-happy soundboard operator behind the coffee counter.
From Los Angeles Times
Colón, he explained, used his trombone to echo the sound of the Caribbean in New York and bridge the two cultures.
From BBC
The pair would go on to record a total of 14 albums through 1973, with Lavoe’s talents for improvisation complementing Colón’s raw, aggressive trombone.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
I want the algorithm to stop serving me fake videos of cats playing the trombone at 4 a.m. just because I always click on fake videos of cats playing the trombone at 4 a.m.
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.
