ear trumpet
1
9.9
- noun
- /ɪr ˈtrʌmpɪt/
- Archaic
:
trumpeta de oído
- The old man relied on an ear trumpet to communicate with his grandchildren more easily.
Examples
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All the same, "Aunt Pru" rather conjures up a stern, elderly spinster with an ear trumpet, not an elegant lady of fashion like Lady P. Fairfax.
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Who's got his ear trumpet?!
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Equipped with an ear trumpet and a clay pipe, she seemed in those days to want to appear older than she was.
Fiction book (2000) -
Claude captured many calls that had previously eluded the Abbe, and did so with nothing more than an ear trumpet and fierce concentration.
Fiction book (1992) -
In the 19th century, people often used an ear trumpet to hear better during conversations.
-
She held the ear trumpet to her ear, hoping to catch every word of the discussion.
Synonyms
39
2.3
A small device worn to make sounds louder for people who cannot hear well
A small electronic device worn in or behind the ear that makes sounds louder for people who cannot hear well
How Effective
Surface Forms
Morphology
ear + trumpet
The noun is transparently compositional: 'ear' (target organ) + 'trumpet' (a trumpet-shaped instrument or cone that projects/amplifies sound) yields a trumpet-like device for the ear used to amplify sound. A B1 learner who knows both constituent meanings can readily infer a cone-shaped hearing aid from that combination, so the MWE is transparent.
Etymology
The name ear trumpet comes from a simple picture: people held a cone-shaped trumpet to the ear to collect sound. Because it helped people 'hear better', the name came to mean that old hearing aid.