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Trombone

//ˌtɹɑmˈboʊn// noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Noun

1
A musical instrument in the brass family, having a cylindrical bore, and usually a sliding tube (but sometimes piston valves, and rarely both). Most often refers to the tenor trombone, which is the most common type of trombone and has a fundamental tone of B♭ˌ (contra B♭).
"Jim plays the trombone very well."
2
a brass instrument consisting of a long tube whose length can be varied by a U-shaped slide wordnet
3
The common European bittern.
4
A kind of extendable support for attaching lighting elements to a set.
"The trombone […] permits an instrument to be positioned over a studio set wall, enabling the set wall to support the weight of the instrument."

Verb

1
To transmit a signal or data back to a central switching point before sending it out to its destination.
2
To extend and retract (the zoom lens); to use it too enthusiastically. slang, transitive
"[…] do things wrong (like rotating the lens turret while shooting or backwinding and doing multiple passes on the same strip of film or doing in-camera fades with the variable shutter or tromboning a zoom lens like a teenager on acid, etc., etc., etc.) […]"

Etymology

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Italian trombone, from tromba (“trumpet”) + -one (augmentative), literally “large trumpet”. The telecommunications sense alludes to the shape of the musical instrument.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Italian trombone, from tromba (“trumpet”) + -one (augmentative), literally “large trumpet”. The telecommunications sense alludes to the shape of the musical instrument.

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