a 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)
Origin
1715-25; < Italian, equivalent to tromb(a) trumpet (< Provençal < Germanic; compare Old High Germantrumpa, trumba horn, trumpet) + -one augmentative suffix
He plays the trombone, sings in a choir and enjoys basketball and baseball.
It might have three first-trombone players for the band-and no chemistry students.
The year before the flood, one of its trombone players died.
Danny strolls onstage as the band's trombone player plays the intro.
British Dictionary definitions for trombone
trombone
/trɒmˈbəʊn/
noun
1.
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)
2.
a person who plays this instrument in an orchestra
Derived Forms
trombonist, noun
Word Origin
C18: from Italian, from tromba a trumpet, from Old High German trumba
Word Origin and History for trombone
n.
brass wind instrument, 1724, from Italian trombone, augmentative form of tromba "trumpet," from a Germanic source (cf. Old High German trumba "trumpet;" see trumpet).
trombone in Culture
trombone definition
A brass instrument; the player can change its pitch by sliding one part of the tube in and out of the other. The tone of the trombone is mellower than that of the trumpet.