shofar

What it means

1. JudaismcountableA ram’s-horn trumpet, used for Jewish ritual purposes.

   Thaddeus the fluteplayer had, it seems, found a ram’s horn or shofar, and he was blowing this not in the normal manner of an angry summons but so as to produce a melody of four notes, like a camp call to dinner or parade.

   1985, Anthony Burgess, The Kingdom of the Wicked

   1 more example

   “This is one of those times in the history of our country and the world, where we are being presented with a wake up call — the blast of the shofar — to challenge ourselves, to ask, ‘What are we doing? What can we do?’ And know that we can do so much,” said Harris.

   2023 September 13, Gabby Deutch, quoting Kamala Harris, “VP Harris: ‘Blast of the shofar’ presents a ‘wake up call’”, in Jewish Insider

In a sentence

Thaddeus the fluteplayer had, it seems, found a ram’s horn or shofar, and he was blowing this not in the normal manner of an angry summons but so as to produce a melody of four notes, like a camp call to dinner or parade.

1985, Anthony Burgess, The Kingdom of the Wicked

Where it comes from

1. Hebrewשׁוֹפָר“shofar”
2. Englishshofar

From the Hebrew שׁוֹפָר (shofár, “shofar”).