/tɹʌmp/, [t͡ʃɹʌmp]
OriginPossibly from French triomphe (“triumph”) or Old French triumphe. If so, it is a doublet of triumph and thriambus. Compare German Trumpf.
- The suit, in a game of cards, that outranks all others.
“Diamonds were declared trump(s).”
“And now her Heart with Pleasure jumps,
She scarce remembers what is Trumps.”
- A playing card of that suit.
“He played an even higher trump.”
- figurativelySomething that gives one an advantage, especially one held in reserve.
“VVere Iacke Strawe a liue againe,
And I in as good poſſibility as euer I was,
I would lay a ſurer trumpe,
Ere I would loſe ſo faire a tricke.”
- archaic, colloquialAn excellent person; a fine fellow, a good egg.
“[W]e permitted no hostile foot to pass over or desecrate his resting place; shall be that which to learn the last trump shall awaken our WASHINGTON.”
“All hands voted Queequeg a noble trump; the captain begged his pardon.”
“Brooke was a trump to telegraph right off.”
- An old card game, almost identical to whist; the game of ruff.
“There be many one that breaketh this carde,[…]and playeth there with oftentimes at the blinde trompe, wherby they be no winners but great losers”
“Trionfo,[…]also a trump at cards, or the play called trump or ruff.”
- A card of the major arcana of the tarot.
- archaicA trumpet.
“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible”
“Sound, sound the trump of fame,”
- UK, colloquialA fart.
- The noise made by an elephant through its trunk.
- datedSynonym of Jew's harp.
- transitiveTo play on (a card of another suit) with a trump.
“He knew the hand was lost when his ace was trumped.”
“He lost his money at whist after dinner, and actually trumped his partner’s highest spade.”
- intransitiveTo play a trump, or to take a trick with a trump.
- transitiveTo get the better of, or finesse, a competitor.
“to trick or trump mankind”
“Wren, who had hoped to make his name with his discovery, immediately put De Corpore aside, hoping that in silence his failure would disappear. He was forced to think again about his future and resolve”
- dated, transitiveTo impose unfairly; to palm off.
“Authors have been trumped upon us.”
- transitiveTo supersede.
“In this election, it would seem issues of national security trumped economic issues.”
- transitiveTo outweigh; be stronger, greater, bigger than or in other way superior to.
- To blow a trumpet.
- UK, colloquial, intransitiveTo fart.
“And without warning me, as he lay there, he suddenly trumped next to me in bed.”
“Who trumped?”
- countable, uncountableA surname from German.
“The house at which he was to lodge had been selected with considerable judgment. It was kept by a tidy old widow known as Mrs. Trump; but those who knew any thing of Hamworth affairs were well aware t”
- countable, uncountableDonald Trump (b. 1946), a businessman, television personality, and current president of the United States of America (2017–2021, 2025–present).
“During their interview, Shahidi asked Clinton about the uncomfortable second presidential debate, during which Trump stalked her around the stage.”
- countable, uncountableA ghost town in Park County, Colorado, United States.
- countable, uncountableAn unincorporated community in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States.
Formstrumps(plural) · trumps(present, singular, third-person) · trumping(participle, present) · trumped(participle, past) · trumped(past) · Trumps(plural)
hugo 4/6·5/16/2026