Trump Meaning
/tɹʌmp/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounThe suit, in a game of cards, that outranks all others.
nounA playing card of that suit.
Sentence Examples
The time has come for you to play your trump card.
He played his trump card.
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the card game, she played her winning ____ and took all the tricks.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
In the card game, hearts were chosen as the ____ suit, which meant they were more powerful than all the others today.
Word Origin & History
Possibly from French triomphe (“triumph”) or Old French triumphe. If so, it is a doublet of triumph and thriambus. Compare German Trumpf.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"And now her Heart with Pleasure jumps,
She scarce remembers what is Trumps."
— 1730, Jonathan Swift, “Death And Daphne,”, in Some Verse Pieces:
"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."
— 1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], →OCLC, Act IV:
"[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."
— 1838, Abraham Lincoln, “Address Before the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois”, in The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions, archived from the original on 05 Feb 2013:
"All hands voted Queequeg a noble trump; the captain begged his pardon."
— 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “chapter 13”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:
"Brooke was a trump to telegraph right off."
— 1868–1869, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, Little Women: […], (please specify |part=1 or 2), Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, →OCLC, pages 19 and 163:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the card game, she played her winning ____ and took all the tricks.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
In the card game, hearts were chosen as the ____ suit, which meant they were more powerful than all the others today.