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)
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
trom•bone /trɑmˈboʊn, ˈtrɑmboʊn/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Music and Dancea musical wind instrument consisting of a rounded metal tube expanding into a bell and bent twice into a
U shape, and having a slide for varying the tone.
trom•bone
(trom bōn′, trom′bōn),USA pronunciation n.
trom•bon•ist
(trom bō′nist, trom′bō-),USA pronunciation n.
- Music and Dancea musical wind instrument consisting of a cylindrical metal tube expanding into a bell and bent twice in a
U shape, usually equipped with a slide (slide trombone.)
- Gmc; compare Old High German trumpa, trumba horn, trumpet) + -one augmentative suffix
- Provencal
- Italian, equivalent. to tromb(a) trumpet (
- 1715–25;
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'trombone' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Dixieland
- brass
- brass instrument
- contrabass
- glide
- jazz band
- mean
- position
- sackbut
- slide
- slide trombone
- tailgate
- tailgater
- tenor clef
- traditional
- tromba marina
- trump
- valve trombone
- wind instrument