Also 4–6 trompette, -et, trumpette, 5 trompett, troumpette, 6–7 trumpett; Sc. 5 trompat, troumpat(e, trumpate, 5–6 trumpat, 6 -ait. [a. F. trompette (14th c.), dim. f. trompe, TRUMP sb.1]
1. A musical wind-instrument (or one of a class of such) of bright, powerful, and penetrating tone, used from ancient times, especially for military or other signals, and in modern times also in the orchestra; it consists of a cylindrical or conical tube, usually of metal (anciently also of horn or wood), straight or curved (or bent upon itself), with cup-shaped mouthpiece and a flaring bell.
The natural tones of the instrument are the series of harmonics produced by varying force of breath; in modern forms of it additional tones are obtained by means of slides, crooks, valves, or keys.
13[?]. Coer de L., 303. Trumpettes began for to blowe, Knyghtes justed in a rowe.
1390. Gower, Conf., III. 217. Ech of hem ek a trompette Bar in his other hond.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, VIII. 1021. Thai within … defyit Wallace, And trumpattis blew with mony werlik soun.
1533. Gau, Richt Vay (S.T.S.), 71. Our lord sal thane command ane archangel to blaw the trumpait of God.
1535. Coverdale, Ezek. xxxiii. 4. Yff a man now heare the noyse off the trompet & will not be warned.
1606. Shaks., Tr. & Cr., I. iii. 213. What Trumpet?
1638. Sir T. Herbert, Trav. (ed. 2), 135. In another [mosque] sleeps Sandant-Emyr-amahow…; with many moe, who are like to sleep till the Trumpet raise them.
1788. Gibbon, Decl. & F., xli. (1869), II. 506. The general’s trumpet gave the signal of departure.
1844. Thirlwall, Greece, VIII. lxiv. 317. Before the games began, after silence had been bidden by the sound of the trumpet, proclamation was made by a herald.
1889. W. H. Stone, in Grove, Dict. Mus., IV. 181. The simple or Field Trumpet is merely a tube twice bent on itself, ending in a bell…. The modern orchestral or slide Trumpet … is twice turned or curved, thus forming three lengths. Ibid., 182. It [the tempering of the notes] is quite impossible on the Valve Trumpet.
† b. Distinguished from trump, as being smaller.
c. 1407. Lydg., Reson & Sens., 5589. And for folkys that lyst daunce Ther wer trumpes and trumpetes.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 504/1. Trumpet, or a lytylle trumpe, that clepythe to mete, or men togedur, sistrum.
c. Feast of trumpets, a Jewish festival observed at the beginning of the month Tisri, blowing of trumpets being a prominent part of the solemnities.
1560. Bible (Genev.), Num. xxix. (heading), 1. The feast of trumpets. Ibid. (1611). The offering at the feast of Trumpets.
1903. W. Bright, Age of Fathers, II. xxxiii. 192. Chrysostom was … indignant at the numbers that flocked to the festivals of ‘Trumpets’ or ‘Tabernacles.’
2. Something of the nature of or resembling a trumpet. a. A reed-stop on the organ, of powerful tone resembling that of a trumpet.
1659. Leak, Waterwks., 31. To make Organs, or Trumpets of Organs, to Sound.
1660. Specif. Organ, in Grove, Dict. Mus., II. 591. Great Organ. 10 stops…. 10. Trumpet…. Eccho Organ. 4 stops…. 19. Trumpet.
1688. in E. J. Hopkins, Organ (1870), 453. Trumpett, of mettle.
1776. Hawkins, Hist. Mus., IV. I. x. 149. Of the stops of an organ, the most usual are the … Trumpet [etc.].
1876. Hiles, Catech. Organ, x. (1878), 70. Trumpet, Tromba, a striking reed stop of clear, penetrating tone.
b. Trumpet marine, marine trumpet [tr. Ital. tromba marina, F. trompette marine], a large obsolete musical instrument of the viol kind, played with a bow, and having a single thick string passing over a bridge fastened at one end only, the other vibrating against the body, and producing a tone like that of a trumpet.
1675. Lond. Gaz., No. 961/4. A Rare Concert of four Trumpets Marine, never heard of before in England.
1748. trans. Molière’s Le Bourg. Gent., II. i. The Trumpet-Marine is an Instrument that pleases me, and is very harmonious.
1838. G. F. Graham, Mus. Comp., App. 78. In Europe, in the last century, the only remnant of the most ancient monochord was the tromba-marina (trumpet-marine).
c. A conical tube with a wide mouth, used for increasing the force and carrying power of the voice: = SPEAKING-TRUMPET. d. A similar apparatus for conveying sound to the ear of a partially deaf person: = EAR-TRUMPET, HEARING-TRUMPET.
1696. Phillips (ed. 5), A Speaking Trumpet, a Trumpet about Eight Foot, and sometimes Six Foot long, streight and very wide at the end…. It carries the Voice so as to be distinctly heard above a Mile.
1774. Goldsm., Retal., 146. When they judged without skill, he was still hard of hearing; When they talked of their Raphaels, Corregios, and stuff, He shifted his trumpet, and only took snuff.
1849. Cupples, Green Hand, xiv. ‘Stand by to let go the larboard anchor!’ I sang out through the trumpet.
1883. S. C. Hall, Retrospect, II. 46. So deaf that a trumpet was constantly at her ear.
3. fig. A means or agent (real or imaginary) that proclaims, celebrates, or gives warning of something. To blow one’s own trumpet, to sound one’s own praises, boast, brag.
1447. Bokenham, Seyntys (Roxb.), 35. Whan it was knowe … And be the trumpet of fame aboute blowe.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, I. Prol. 346. Venerable Chaucer, principall poet but peir, Hevinlie trumpat, horleige and reguleir.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 264. The decree of Wormes was the trompet of this warre.
1576. Fleming, Panopl. Epist., 59. I will … sound the trumpet of mine owne merites.
1644. Milton, Areop. (Arb.), 68. Why … was this Nation chos’n, that out of her … should be … sounded forth the first tidings and trumpet of Reformation to all Europ?
1783. Wolcott (P. Pindar), Odes to R.A.’s, vi. Sound their own praise from their own penny trumpet.
1803–6. Wordsw., Ode Intim. Immort., 25. The cataracts blow their trumpets from the steep.
1902. Eliz. L. Banks, Newspaper Girl, 22. It was with a great flourish of newspaper trumpets that I started off.
4. transf. One who blows or plays on a trumpet; a trumpeter.
1390–1. Earl Derby’s Exp. (Camden), 114. Dati a le Trumpet de dono domini ibidem, xxiiij s. viij d.
a. 1450. Le Morte Arth., 2723. The trompettis vppon the wallis went.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 225 b. The Duke of Brunswicke sendeth a trompet to Duke Moris, and desyreth a communication.
1617. Moryson, Itin., I. 106. Our guard of horse left vs, and their trumpet asked of euery man a gift in curtesie.
1752. J. Louthian, Form of Process (ed. 2), 233. The Judges … set out … for their respective Districts, attended with a Macer of Court and two Trumpets.
1855. Motley, Dutch Rep., I. ii. (1864), I. 178. Nevers sent a trumpet, after the battle, to the Duke of Savoy, for the purpose of negotiating concerning the prisoners.
b. fig. = TRUMPETER 2. Cf. 3 above.
1549. Chaloner, Erasm. Praise Folly, A ij. What … maie be … better fittyng, than dame Foly to praise hir selfe, and be hir owne trumpet?
1577. F. de L’isle’s Leg., G viij. Munkes and such other trumpets of sedition.
1595. Shaks., John, I. i. 27. So hence: be thou the trumpet of our wrath.
1709. Steele, Tatler, No. 52, ¶ 4. He must in some Measure be the Trumpet of his Fame.
5. A sound like that of a trumpet; the loud cry of certain animals, esp. the elephant; the shrill hum of the gnat or mosquito.
1850. R. G. Cumming, Hunter’s Life S. Afr. (1902), 86/2. He [the elephant] charged with a terrific trumpet.
1852. Mundy, Our Antipodes (1857), 195. The shrill scream of the heron, and the rough trumpet of the pelican.
1896. J. H. Skrine, in Speaker, 25 July, 98/2. The steed … neighed his trumpet.
1911. Blackw. Mag., Nov., 707/1. Suddenly there comes the well-known trumpet of the crane.
6. Something shaped like a trumpet.
* natural. a. = trumpet-shell (see 7); also called SEA-TRUMPET (1).
1668. Charleton, Onomast., 180. Buccinum … the Trumpet.
1713. Petiver, Aquat. Anim. Amboinæ, Tab. vii. Buccinum Amboin. rarum, nubulis castaneis: Nobis, Brown Amboina Trumpet.
1895. Edin. Rev., Oct., 355. Cuttles and squids … crown-melons and fighting trumpets.
b. Applied to a plant having trumpet-shaped flowers; in quot. 1705 app. = trumpet-daffodil (see 7). Also pl. a name for a species of pitcher-plant, Sarracenia flava (cf. trumpet-leaf in 7). Also gen. a trumpet-shaped blossom or part of a blossom (as the tubular corona of a daffodil).
1705. trans. Cowley’s Plants, Wks. 1711, III. 344. Then a gay Flow’r for Shape the Trumpet nam’d.
1883. Mrs. G. L. Banks, Forbidden to Marry, v. The white and rosy trumpets of the bindweed.
1884. Miller, Plant-n., Trumpets, Sarracenia flava.
1904. Daily Chron., 8 March, 8/5. The White Queen [narcissus], a novelty with white perianth and trumpet of pale chrome.
** artificial. c. A funnel-shaped conductor in a spinning-machine, etc.; also called trumpet-mouth (see 7). d. The flaring mouth of an automatic coupling on a railway car. e. (See quot. 18772.)
1877. Knight, Dict. Mech., Trumpet.… 4. (Spinning.) a. The funnel which leads a sliver to the cylinders of a drawing-machine, or which collects a number of combined rovings, and leads them to condensing cylinders. b. A funnel-shaped conductor used in many forms of thread-machines [etc.]…. 5. (Railway.) The flaring mouth of a railway-car draw-head which directs the entering coupling-link.
1877. G. F. Maclear, St. Mark, xii. (1879), 139. This treasury, according to the Rabbis, consisted of thirteen brazen chests, called ‘trumpets,’ because the mouths … were wide at the top and narrow below.
7. attrib. and Comb. a. Simple attrib., as trumpet-blare, -blast, -bray, -clang, -clangor, -flourish, music, -note, -peal, signal, -sound, stop (= sense 2 a), tone, -voice, -word. b. Objective, as trumpet-blowing adj. and sb.; instrumental, as trumpet-hung adj. (cf. 6 b); parasynthetic and similative, as trumpet-flowered, -loud, -toned, -voiced adjs.; also trumpet-like adj. c. Special Combs.: trumpet animalcule, an infusorian of the genus Stentor or family Stentoridæ, so called from its shape; trumpet-ash = trumpet-creeper (Cent. Dict., 1891); trumpet-banner, a small banner attached to a trumpet, formerly used by heralds; trumpet-bird = TRUMPETER 5 b; trumpet-call, a call or summons sounded on a trumpet; also fig.; trumpet-cheek, a cheek inflated or distended as in blowing a trumpet; trumpet-conch = trumpet-shell (Cent. Dict., 1891); trumpet creeper, a climbing shrub of the genus Tecoma (N.O. Bignoniaceæ), esp. the common trumpet-flower, T. radicans (formerly Bignonia radicans), of the Southern U.S., with scarlet trumpet-shaped flowers; trumpet daffodil, a variety of daffodil with conspicuous ‘trumpet’ or tubular corona (cf. 6 b); trumpet-fish, name for various fishes with long tubular snout, esp. the bellows-fish or sea-snipe (Centriscus scolopax) and the tobacco-pipe fish (Fistularia); trumpet-flower, name for various plants with large or showy trumpet-shaped flowers, esp. of the genera Tecoma (see trumpet-creeper above) and Bignonia, also species of Catalpa, Brunfelsia, Datura, Solandra, etc.; trumpet-fly (see quot.); trumpet-gall, a small trumpet-shaped gall found on grape-vines in U.S. (Cent. Dict.); trumpet-gourd, a trumpet-shaped variety of the common gourd (Lagenaria vulgaris); trumpet-grass = trumpet-weed; trumpet-guide = sense 6 c (Cent. Dict. Suppl., 1909); trumpet honeysuckle (see HONEYSUCKLE 2); trumpet hypha (pl. -hyphæ), Bot. (see quot.); trumpet-jasmine = trumpet-creeper (Cent. Dict.); trumpet-keck (see KECK sb.); trumpet lamp, miner’s term for a Mueseler or Belgian safety-lamp (Gresley, Gloss. Coal Mining, 1883); trumpet-leaf, name for species of pitcher-plant (Sarracenia) with leaves resembling trumpets rather than pitchers; trumpet-lily, the white arum-lily (see ARUM b); also some species of Lilium; trumpet-major, the chief trumpeter of a band or regiment; trumpet milkweed = trumpet-weed (c); trumpet-mouth, the ‘mouth’ or expanded end of a trumpet, or something resembling this (in quot. 1835 = sense 6 c); trumpet-mouthed a., (a) = trumpet-tongued, -voiced; (b) having a wide opening like the mouth of a trumpet; trumpet narcissus (cf. trumpet daffodil above); trumpet-pipe, (a) name for a particular pattern of musket; (b) a pipe of the trumpet-stop on an organ; trumpet reed, a West Indian species of reed, Arundo occidentalis; trumpet-seaweed = trumpet-weed (a); trumpet-shaped a., of the shape of a trumpet; in Nat. Hist. tubular with one end dilated; trumpet-shell, a shell of the genus Triton or family Tritonidæ (see TRITON 2 a), or any other shell that can be blown like a trumpet; trumpet-tongued a., ‘having a tongue vociferous as a trumpet’ (J.), loud-voiced; so trumpet-tongue v., trans. to proclaim loudly; trumpet-tree, a West Indian and South American tree (Cecropia peltata, N.O. Artocarpaceæ), with hollow stem and branches which are used for wind-instruments; trumpet-vine = trumpet-creeper; trumpet-weed, (a) a large S. African seaweed, Ecklonia buccinalis = SEA-TRUMPET 3; (b) a N. American species of hemp-agrimony, Eupatorium purpureum, with hollow stems which children blow through like trumpets; (c) a N. American sp. of lettuce, Lactuca canadensis; trumpet-wood = trumpet-tree.
1891. Cent. Dict., *Trumpet-animalcule.
1895. L. Wright, Pop. Handbk. Microscope, viii. 154. The largest animals of this type are the Stentors or Trumpet-Animalcules.
1503. Acc. Gt. Wardrobe, in Calr. Doc. rel. Scotl., IV. 441. Item, vij *trumpetbaners pro v trumpetters et ij shakbotters.
1586. Ferne, Blaz. Gentrie, 161. The … French king, for want of a Hereald … was constrained to subbornate a vadelict, or common seruing man, with a trumpet banner … in steede of a better cote-armour of Fraunce.
1896. Newton, Dict. Birds, 992. Messrs. Sclater and Salvin in their Nomenclator … admit 6 species of *Trumpet-birds.
1865. Kingsley, Herew., xv. The streets … rang with clank, and tramp, and *trumpet-blare.
1837. Carlyle, Fr. Rev., I. IV. ii. As it [the edict] sounds out … accompanied with *trumpet-blast.
1879. Farrar, St. Paul, I. 582. Their faith had been as a trumpet-blast through all the Mediterranean coasts.
1856. Mem. F. Perthes, II. xxiv. 362. The *trumpet-blowing angels.
1859. Tennyson, Vivien, 416. Such a song, such fire for fame, Such trumpet-blowing in it.
1815. Scott, Waterloo, vii. Cannon-roar and *trumpet-bray. Ibid. (1808), Marm., I. xii. Loudly flourish’d the *trumpet-call.
1909. Blackw. Mag., March, 402/1. His name was still a trumpet-call.
1693. Dryden, Juvenal, iii. 64. The Minstrels of a Country Show … By *Trumpet-Cheeks and Bloated Faces known.
1808. Scott, Marm., V. xxv. And voice of Scotland’s law was sent In glorious *trumpet clang.
1597. Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., V. v. 42. There roar’d the Sea: and *Trumpet Clangour sounds.
1857. A. Gray, First Less. Bot. (1866), 34. By these rootlets … the *Trumpet Creeper, the Ivy [etc.] fasten themselves firmly to walls.
1895. Outing (U.S.), XXVII. 220/1. Trumpet creepers, yellow as gold, and starry blue passion flowers.
1895. Daily News, 25 April, 5/2. The great white and yellow *trumpet daffodils.
1668. Wilkins, Real Char., 137. *Trumpet-fish.
1683–4. Robinson, in Phil. Trans., XXIX. 479. The Scolopax or Trombetta, call’d by our Seamen the Bellows or Trumpet-Fish.
1871. Kingsley, At Last, vi. The good people of Trinidad believe that the fish which makes this noise is the trumpet-fish, or Fistularia.
1811. Scott, Vis. Don Roderick, lvi. Thrills the loud fife, the *trumpet-flourish pours.
1844. Regul. & Ord. Army, 29. Trumpets sounding twice the Trumpet-flourish.
1731. Mortimer, in Phil. Trans., XXXVII. 175. Bignonia Fraxini foliis, coccineo flore minore. The *Trumpet-Flower.
1812. New Bot. Gard., I. 93. The Trumpet Flower, or Scarlet Jasmine.
1847. Longf., Ev., II. ii. 80. The trumpet-flower and the grape-vine Hung their ladder of ropes aloft.
1857. Henfrey, Elem. Bot., 353. The *Trumpet-flowered climbers form striking features of American forests.
1752. J. Hill, Hist. Anim., 31. The blackish Œstrus, with a yellow breast…. We call it the grey fly from it’s colour, or the *trumpet fly from the noise it makes in the heats of summer.
1884. De Candolle’s Orig. Cultiv. Pl., 245. The pilgrim’s gourd,… the long-necked gourd, the *trumpet gourd, and the calabash.
1850. Miss Pratt, Comm. Things of Sea-side, II. 119. Thunberg … calls it [sc. the Sea-trumpet] the *Trumpet-grass.
1753. *Trumpet honey-suckle [see HONEYSUCKLE 2].
1882. Garden, 3 June, 383/1. The North American Trumpet Honeysuckle … one seldom sees outside a greenhouse.
1870. Mrs. Whitney, We Girls, xi. Its … splendid vista of *trumpet-hung bignonia vines.
1900. B. D. Jackson, Gloss. Bot. Terms, *Trumpet-hyphae, tubes in Laminarieae having swollen portions with transverse septa (F. Oliver).
1884. Miller, Plant-n., *Trumpet-leaf, the genus Sarracenia.
1814. Anne Plumptre, trans. Langsdorff’s Voy. & Trav., II. 104. Anas Glacialis.… The harmonious *trumpet-like noise of this bird distinguishes it from every other species of duck.
1825. Green Ho. Comp., I. 57. Tube-shaped or long trumpet-like flowers.
1862. Shirley, Nugæ Crit., i. 89. The shrill trumpet-like call of the wild swan.
1878. F. Ferguson, Life Christ, 465. The thirteen trumpet-like boxes in which the gifts of the people were received.
1857. Henfrey, Elem. Bot., 397. Richardia africana is the white-spathed *‘Trumpet-lily’ of our conservatories.
1884. Miller, Plant-n., Lilium eximium, Transparent Trumpet Lily…. [L.] longiflorum, Common Trumpet Lily. Ibid., Richardia (Calla) æthiopica, Lily-of-the Nile, Trumpet Lily, White Arum-Lily.
1857. G. W. Thornbury, Songs Cavaliers & Roundh., 56. Blow the organ *trumpet-loud.
1855. Hyde Clarke, *Trumpet-major, head trumpeter.
1902. Westm. Gaz., 26 May, 8/2. There died at Shrewsbury yesterday Trumpet-Major Thomas Monks, who sounded the ‘Charge’ for the Heavy Brigade at Balaclava.
1835. Ure, Philos. Manuf., 153. A copper funnel, or *trumpet mouth, for conducting the sliver delivered by the second rollers.
1839. Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl., II. 231/2. The smoke pipe … having a wide, or trumpet mouth.
1899. R. Munro, Prehist. Scotland, vi. 203. Its present mode of attachment to the trumpet-mouth is evidently modern.
1767. A. Young, Farmer’s Lett., ii. 43. These are facts which speak *trumpet mouthed in favour of this … measure.
1895. Daily News, 31 May, 5/2. What Mr. Burns described as a trumpet-mouthed approach to the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey.
1818. Scott, Br. Lamm., xxiii[i]. What had his memory to do with the degeneracy of the *trumpet music?
1904. Daily Chron., 8 March, 8/5. Weardale Perfection, an exquisite *trumpet narcissus.
1813. Scott, Trierm., III. x. A wild and lonely *trumpet note.
1887. J. Hutchison, Lect. Philippians i. 7. It is not a trumpet-note of defiance like the Epistle to the Galatians.
1804. J. Grahame, Sabbath, etc. (1808), 56. The battle’s *trumpet-peal.
1844. Regul. & Ord. Army, 99. For long-fore or *trumpet-pipe.
1855. E. J. Hopkins, Organ, xxii. 123. The tubes of the Trumpet-pipes are usually … of tin or metal,… occasionally … of zinc or wood.
1866. Treas. Bot., 963. *Trumpet [Reed], Arundo occidentalis.
1884. Miller, Plant-n., Ecklonia buccinalis, Cape *Trumpet.-Sea-weed, Horn-plant.
1767. Ellis, in Phil. Trans., LVII. 420. The figure of one of the *trumpet-shaped suckers highly magnified.
1861. Bentley, Man. Bot., 446. Perennial boggy plants, with pitcher or trumpet-shaped leaves.
1887. Rider Haggard, Jess, i. Long trumpet-shaped flowers.
1753. Chambers, Cycl. Supp., *Trumpet-Shell, Buccinum.
1890. H. Drummond, in Life, xv. (1899), 386. The great trumpet-shell, now rare [in Tongoa, New Hebrides].
1863. Engel, Mus. Anc. Nat., 98. *Trumpet signals are better fitted for transmitting orders to a great distance, than verbal messages through a speaking-trumpet.
1718. Rowe, trans. Lucan, 224. At once the warriors shouts and *Trumpet-sounds surprise.
1823. Scott, Quentin D., xxi. Summoned together, by war-cry and trumpet-sound, to assist in repelling a desperate sally.
1795. Mason, Ch. Mus., i. 64. Instead of using either the *Trumpet stop or the full organ, he will modulate on … the more delicate and softer series of Pipes.
1876. Hiles, Catech. Organ, x. (1878), 71. Trompette Harmonique, a Trumpet stop … made to overblow, by a strong and copious wind; they sound the octave, or the super octave above the usual note.
1841. T. H. White, Fragm. Italy & Rhineland, 9. Well may they dread to waken its [the Bible’s] *trumpet tones!
1854. J. S. C. Abbott, Napoleon (1855), I. i. 25. Those *trumpet-toned proclamations which … electrified Europe.
1880. Burton, Reign Q. Anne, I. i. 27. Friends can confide their thoughts … to each other without their being *trumpet-tongued by … unscrupulous parasites.
1605. Shaks., Macb., I. vii. 19. His Vertues Will pleade like Angels, *Trumpet-tongu’d against The deepe damnation of his taking off.
1775. J. Adams, in Fam. Lett. (1876), 52. It will plead … with more irresistible persuasion than angels trumpet-tongued.
1860. Pusey, Min. Proph., 453. That Day of the Lord … shall, trumpet-tongued, proclaim the holiness and justice of Almighty God.
1756. P. Browne, Jamaica, 111. The *Trumpet-Tree…. The trunk and branches are hollow,… stopped from space to space with membranous septæ…. The smaller branches … serve for wind instruments.
1871. Kingsley, At Last, v. A tall stick, thirty feet high, with a flat top of gigantic curly horse-chestnut leaves, which is a Trumpet-tree.
1717. Petiveriana, III. 255. Scarlet *Trumpet-Vine. Makes a fine Arbour.
1818. Byron, Ch. Har., IV. xcviii. Yet Freedom! yet … Thy *trumpet-voice, though … dying, The loudest still the tempest leaves behind.
1902. Athenæum, 4 Jan., 6/2. Howel Harris, the *trumpet-voiced revivalist.
1856. Gray, Man. Bot. (1860), 186. Eupatorium purpureum (… *Trumpet-Weed).
1866. Treas. Bot., 1179. Trumpet-weed, the name of a seaweed, Ecklonia buccinalis,… very common … at the Cape of Good Hope…. The stem of this seaweed, says Dr. Harvey, which is hollow in the upper portion, is when dried … used … as a siphon, and by the native herdsmen is formed into a trumpet for collecting the cattle in the evening…. The name is also applied in America to Eupatorium purpureum.
1888. Eggleston, Graysons, xx. Shaded by the broad-leaved horse and trumpet weeds in the fence-row.
1836. Loudon, Encycl. Plants, 826. Cecropia. From κεκραγω, to cry out, a sort of translation of the English word *trumpet-wood. This tree has the trunk and branches hollow every where…. The leaves are large, peltate.
1827. G. Darley, Sylvia, 117.
| Now not a sole wood-note is heard, | |
| The wild reed breathes no *trumpet word. |
Hence Trumpetless a., without a trumpet, without trumpeting; Trumpetry, trumpets collectively; trumpeting; Trumpety a. (colloq.), having the tone or style of a trumpet, blaring.
a. 1711. Ken, Edmund, Poet. Wks. 1721, II. 321. It was impossible the Beast to rein, While *trumpetless The Pagans did remain.
1860. Thackeray, Round Papers, v. Cornhill … has witnessed every ninth of November … a prodigious annual pageant, chariot, progress, and flourish of *trumpetry.
1884. Sat. Rev., 14 June, 778/1. The blare of modern trumpetry.
1822. Examiner, 810/2. The music … was altogether too clanging and *trumpetty—the word is a good word.
1896. Pall Mall G., 8 Jan., 1/3. A good stirring military song with an inspiriting trumpety air.
