Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

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.

            The trumpet's loud clangor Excites us to arms.
                                                  --Dryden.

   2. (Mil.) A trumpeter. --Clarendon.

   3. One who praises, or propagates praise, or is the
      instrument of propagating it. --Shak.

            That great politician was pleased to have the
            greatest wit of those times . . . to be the trumpet
            of his praises.                       --Dryden.

   4. (Mach) A funnel, or short, fiaring pipe, used as a guide
      or conductor, as for yarn in a knitting machine.

   {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} (Zo["o]l.), 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} (Zo["o]l.), 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}. (Zo["o]l.)
      (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} (Zo["o]l.), 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} (Zo["o]l.), any species of large marine
      univalve shells belonging to Triton and allied genera. See
      {Triton}, 2.

   {Trumpet tree}. (Bot.) See {Trumpetwood}.

Ear \Ear\, n. [AS. e['a]re; akin to OFries. ['a]re, ['a]r, OS.
   ?ra, D. oor, OHG. ?ra, G. ohr, Icel. eyra, Sw. ["o]ra, Dan.
   ["o]re, Goth. auso, L. auris, Lith. ausis, Russ. ukho, Gr. ?;
   cf. L. audire to hear, Gr. ?, Skr. av to favor, protect. Cf.
   {Auricle}, {Orillon}.]
   1. The organ of hearing; the external ear.

   Note: In man and the higher vertebrates, the organ of hearing
         is very complicated, and is divisible into three parts:
         the external ear, which includes the pinna or auricle
         and meatus or external opening; the middle ear, drum,
         or tympanum; and the internal ear, or labyrinth. The
         middle ear is a cavity connected by the Eustachian tube
         with the pharynx, separated from the opening of the
         external ear by the tympanic membrane, and containing a
         chain of three small bones, or ossicles, named malleus,
         incus, and stapes, which connect this membrane with the
         internal ear. The essential part of the internal ear
         where the fibers of the auditory nerve terminate, is
         the membranous labyrinth, a complicated system of sacs
         and tubes filled with a fluid (the endolymph), and
         lodged in a cavity, called the bony labyrinth, in the
         periotic bone. The membranous labyrinth does not
         completely fill the bony labyrinth, but is partially
         suspended in it in a fluid (the perilymph). The bony
         labyrinth consists of a central cavity, the vestibule,
         into which three semicircular canals and the canal of
         the cochlea (spirally coiled in mammals) open. The
         vestibular portion of the membranous labyrinth consists
         of two sacs, the utriculus and sacculus, connected by a
         narrow tube, into the former of which three membranous
         semicircular canals open, while the latter is connected
         with a membranous tube in the cochlea containing the
         organ of Corti. By the help of the external ear the
         sonorous vibrations of the air are concentrated upon
         the tympanic membrane and set it vibrating, the chain
         of bones in the middle ear transmits these vibrations
         to the internal ear, where they cause certain delicate
         structures in the organ of Corti, and other parts of
         the membranous labyrinth, to stimulate the fibers of
         the auditory nerve to transmit sonorous impulses to the
         brain.

   2. The sense of hearing; the perception of sounds; the power
      of discriminating between different tones; as, a nice ear
      for music; -- in the singular only.

            Songs . . . not all ungrateful to thine ear.
                                                  --Tennyson.

   3. That which resembles in shape or position the ear of an
      animal; any prominence or projection on an object, --
      usually one for support or attachment; a lug; a handle;
      as, the ears of a tub, a skillet, or dish. The ears of a
      boat are outside kneepieces near the bow. See Illust. of
      {Bell}.

   4. (Arch.)
      (a) Same as {Acroterium}.
      (b) Same as {Crossette}.

   5. Privilege of being kindly heard; favor; attention.

            Dionysius . . . would give no ear to his suit.
                                                  --Bacon.

            Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.
                                                  --Shak.

   {About the ears}, in close proximity to; near at hand.

   {By the ears}, in close contest; as, to set by the ears; to
      fall together by the ears; to be by the ears.

   {Button ear} (in dogs), an ear which falls forward and
      completely hides the inside.

   {Ear finger}, the little finger.

   {Ear of Dionysius}, a kind of ear trumpet with a flexible
      tube; -- named from the Sicilian tyrant, who constructed a
      device to overhear the prisoners in his dungeons.

   {Ear sand} (Anat.), otoliths. See {Otolith}.

   {Ear snail} (Zo["o]l.), any snail of the genus {Auricula} and
      allied genera.

   {Ear stones} (Anat.), otoliths. See {Otolith}.

   {Ear trumpet}, an instrument to aid in hearing. It consists
      of a tube broad at the outer end, and narrowing to a
      slender extremity which enters the ear, thus collecting
      and intensifying sounds so as to assist the hearing of a
      partially deaf person.

   {Ear vesicle} (Zo["o]l.), a simple auditory organ, occurring
      in many worms, mollusks, etc. It consists of a small sac
      containing a fluid and one or more solid concretions or
      otocysts.

   {Rose ear} (in dogs), an ear which folds backward and shows
      part of the inside.

   {To give ear to}, to listen to; to heed, as advice or one
      advising. ``Give ear unto my song.'' --Goldsmith.

   {To have one's ear}, to be listened to with favor.

   {Up to the ears}, deeply submerged; almost overwhelmed; as,
      to be in trouble up to one's ears. [Colloq.]

Source : WordNet®

ear trumpet
     n : a conical acoustic device formerly used to direct sound to
         the ear of a hearing-impaired person [syn: {hearing aid}]