tuba

plural tubas

1. A large brass musical instrument, usually in the bass range, played through a vibration of the lips upon the mouthpiece and fingering of the keys.

   One version of the large tuba, popular in marching bands, is called a sousaphone in honor of bandsman John Philip Sousa.

   1990, Thomas D. Rossing, The Science of Sound, page 230

2. A large reed stop in organs.

plural tubas · plural tubae

1. anatomyA tube or tubular organ.

   1 more example

   Compared with skulls of darwini, skulls of andium are smaller with shorter tooth rows (fig. 13), have less globular bullae that taper more gradually to the tubae, and a shorter, proportionately narrower rostrum with nasals usually relatively blunt behind and seldom projecting posteriorly far behind the premaxillae (pl. 11).

   1958, Oliver P[ayne] Pearson, “Phyllotis andium”, in A Taxonomic Revision of the Rodent Genus Phyllotis (University of California Publications in Zoology; volume 56, number 4), Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, →OCLC, page 437

2. A type of Roman military trumpet, distinct from the modern tuba.

   As he drew nearer to Worms, he heard the brassy blare of Roman tubae from the ruddy sandstone walls of the city.

   1994 April, Stephan Grundy, “Along the Rhine”, in Rhinegold, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, →ISBN, book III (The Death of Athelings), page 451

   2 more examples

   From the eleventh century onwards, the trumpets, which had till then been modelled on the Roman tubae with their straightforward and somewhat rough sound, began to grow longer and thinner as their bells widened.

   1968, Roger Bragard, Ferdinand J[oseph] de Hen, translated by Bill Hopkins, “Wind Instruments”, in Musical Instruments in Art and History (A Studio Book), New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, →LCCN, →OCLC, part II (The Middle Ages), page 60

   This depicts trumpet blowing angels gripping instruments, of the Roman tubae variety, halfway down with the right hand, the left hand covering their mouth and the mouthpiece.

   1986, Raymond Buniak, A Twentieth-Century Treatise on the Trombone, [Bartlett, Ill.]: Raymond Buniak, →OCLC

1. uncountableA Malayan plant whose roots are a significant source of rotenone, Derris malaccensis.

1. PhilippinesuncountableA reddish palm wine made from coconut or nipa sap.

1. abbreviationentertainmentAbbreviation of bass tuba.

1. A municipality of Benguet, Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines.