Wordnet 3.0
NOUN (1)
1.
a trumpet-shaped acoustic device to intensify and direct the human voice;
formerly held to the ear by a hard-of-hearing person;
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Speaking \Speak"ing\, a.
1. Uttering speech; used for conveying speech; as, man is a
speaking animal; a speaking tube.
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2. Seeming to be capable of speech; hence, lifelike; as, a
speaking likeness.
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A speaking acquaintance, a slight acquaintance with a
person, or one which merely permits the exchange of
salutations and remarks on indifferent subjects.
Speaking trumpet, an instrument somewhat resembling a
trumpet, by which the sound of the human voice may be so
intensified as to be conveyed to a great distance.
Speaking tube, a tube for conveying speech, especially from
one room to another at a distance.
To be on speaking terms, to be slightly acquainted.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Trumpet \Trump"et\, n. [F. trompette, dim. of trompe. See
Trump a trumpet.]
1. (Mus.) A wind instrument of great antiquity, much used in
war and military exercises, and of great value in the
orchestra. In consists of a long metallic tube, curved
(once or twice) into a convenient shape, and ending in a
bell. Its scale in the lower octaves is limited to the
first natural harmonics; but there are modern trumpets
capable, by means of valves or pistons, of producing every
tone within their compass, although at the expense of the
true ringing quality of tone.
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The trumpet's loud clangor
Excites us to arms. --Dryden.
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2. (Mil.) A trumpeter. --Clarendon.
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3. One who praises, or propagates praise, or is the
instrument of propagating it. --Shak.
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That great politician was pleased to have the
greatest wit of those times . . . to be the trumpet
of his praises. --Dryden.
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4. (Mach) A funnel, or short, fiaring pipe, used as a guide
or conductor, as for yarn in a knitting machine.
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Ear trumpet. See under Ear.
Sea trumpet (Bot.), a great seaweed (Ecklonia buccinalis)
of the Southern Ocean. It has a long, hollow stem,
enlarging upwards, which may be made into a kind of
trumpet, and is used for many purposes.
Speaking trumpet, an instrument for conveying articulate
sounds with increased force.
Trumpet animalcule (Zool.), any infusorian belonging to
Stentor and allied genera, in which the body is
trumpet-shaped. See Stentor.
Trumpet ash (Bot.), the trumpet creeper. [Eng.]
Trumpet conch (Zool.), a trumpet shell, or triton.
Trumpet creeper (Bot.), an American climbing plant (Tecoma
radicans) bearing clusters of large red trumpet-shaped
flowers; -- called also trumpet flower, and in England
trumpet ash.
Trumpet fish. (Zool.)
(a) The bellows fish.
(b) The fistularia.
Trumpet flower. (Bot.)
(a) The trumpet creeper; also, its blossom.
(b) The trumpet honeysuckle.
(c) A West Indian name for several plants with
trumpet-shaped flowers.
Trumpet fly (Zool.), a botfly.
Trumpet honeysuckle (Bot.), a twining plant (Lonicera
sempervirens) with red and yellow trumpet-shaped flowers;
-- called also trumpet flower.
Trumpet leaf (Bot.), a name of several plants of the genus
Sarracenia.
Trumpet major (Mil.), the chief trumpeter of a band or
regiment.
Trumpet marine (Mus.), a monochord, having a thick string,
sounded with a bow, and stopped with the thumb so as to
produce the harmonic tones; -- said to be the oldest bowed
instrument known, and in form the archetype of all others.
It probably owes its name to "its external resemblance to
the large speaking trumpet used on board Italian vessels,
which is of the same length and tapering shape." --Grove.
Trumpet shell (Zool.), any species of large marine univalve
shells belonging to Triton and allied genera. See
Triton, 2.
Trumpet tree. (Bot.) See Trumpetwood.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
speaking trumpet
n 1: a trumpet-shaped acoustic device to intensify and direct
the human voice; formerly held to the ear by a hard-of-
hearing person