Adjacent Words

trombone definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a brass instrument consisting of a long tube whose length can be varied by a U-shaped slide

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Italian, augmentative of tromba trumpet, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German trumba, trumpa trumpet Date: circa 1724 a brass instrument consisting of a long cylindrical metal tube with two turns and having a movable slide or valves for varying the tone and a usual range one octave lower than that of the trumpet • trombonist noun

Britannica Concise

Brass instrument with an extendable slide with which the length of its tubing can be increased. It has a mostly cylindrical bore and a cup-shaped mouthpiece. The slide performs the same function as the valves in other brass instruments. Valve trombones, both with and without slides, were developed in the early 19th cent.; they provide increased agility but diminished tone quality. The trombone exists in several sizes; the tenor trombone in B-flat is the standard instrument, but the bass trombone is also used orchestrally. The trombone (long known as the sackbut) developed in the 15th cent., and has changed little over 400 years. By the 16th cent. it had been adopted by town, court, church, and military bands; it was employed in early opera orchestras, but only began to be used in the symphony orchestra c.1800. In the 20th cent. it became important in dance and jazz bands.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a a large brass wind instrument with a sliding tube. b its player. 2 an organ stop with the quality of a trombone. Derivatives: trombonist n. Etymology: F or It. f. It. tromba TRUMPET

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Trombone Trom"bone, n. [It., aug. of tromba a trumpet: cf. F. trombone. See Trump a trumpet.] 1. (Mus.) A powerful brass instrument of the trumpet kind, thought by some to be the ancient sackbut, consisting of a tube in three parts, bent twice upon itself and ending in a bell. The middle part, bent double, slips into the outer parts, as in a telescope, so that by change of the vibrating length any tone within the compass of the instrument (which may be bass or tenor or alto or even, in rare instances, soprano) is commanded. It is the only member of the family of wind instruments whose scale, both diatonic and chromatic, is complete without the aid of keys or pistons, and which can slide from note to note as smoothly as the human voice or a violin. Softly blown, it has a rich and mellow sound, which becomes harsh and blatant when the tones are forced; used with discretion, its effect is often solemn and majestic. 2. (Zo["o]l.) The common European bittern.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(trombones) A trombone is a large musical instrument of the brass family. It consists of two long oval tubes, one of which can be pushed backwards and forwards to play different notes. N-VAR: oft the N

Moby Thesaurus

English horn, alpenhorn, alphorn, althorn, alto horn, ballad horn, baritone, bass horn, bassoon, block flute, bombard, bourdon, brass choir, brass wind, brass-wind instrument, brasses, bugle, bugle horn, cello, claribel, clarinet, clarion, concert flute, cornet, cornet-a-pistons, corno di caccia, cornopean, cromorna, cymbel, diapason, double-bell euphonium, dulciana, euphonium, flute stop, foundation stop, fourniture, gamba, gedeckt, gemshorn, harmonic flute, helicon, horn, hunting horn, hybrid stop, key trumpet, koppel flute, larigot, lituus, lur, mellophone, melodia, mixture, mutation stop, nazard, oboe, octave, ophicleide, orchestral horn, organ stop, piccolo, plein jeu, pocket trumpet, posaune, post horn, principal, quint, quintaten, rank, ranket, reed stop, register, rohr flute, sackbut, saxhorn, saxtuba, serpent, sesquialtera, shawm, slide trombone, sliphorn, sousaphone, spitz flute, stop, stopped diapason, stopped flute, string diapason, string stop, tenor tuba, tierce, tremolo, tromba, trumpet, tuba, twelfth, unda maris, valve trombone, valve trumpet, vibrato, viola, voix celeste, vox angelica, vox humana