ruff, trumping
(noun) (card games) the act of taking a trick with a trump when unable to follow suit
Source: WordNet® 3.1
trumping
present participle of trump
trumping (plural trumpings)
The act by which something is trumped, topped or capped.
(poetic, archaic) The sound of a trumpet.
We list to the trumpings that herald the storm,
To the roll of the drum, and the order to form!
Source: Wiktionary
Trump, n. Etym: [OE. trumpe, trompe, F. trompe; probably fr. L. triumphare to triumph, to exult, hence, probably, to make a joyous sound or noise. See Triumph, v. i. & n., and cf. Trombone, Tromp, Trump at cards, Trumpery, Trumpet, Trunk a proboscis.]
Definition: A wind instrument of music; a trumpet, or sound of a trumpet; - - used chiefly in Scripture and poetry. We shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. 1 Cor. xv. 51, 52. The wakeful trump of doom. Milton.
Trump, v. i. Etym: [Cf. OF. tromper. See Trump a trumpet.]
Definition: To blow a trumpet. [Obs.] Wyclif (Matt. vi. 2).
Trump, n. Etym: [A corruption of triumph, F. triomphe. See Triumph, and cf. Trump a trumpet.]
1. A winning card; one of a particular suit (usually determined by chance for each deal) any card of which takes any card of the other suits.
2. An old game with cards, nearly the same as whist; -- called also ruff. Decker.
3. A good fellow; an excellent person. [Slang] Alfred is a trump, I think you say. Thackeray. To put to one's trumps, or To put on one's trumps, to force to the last expedient, or to the utmost exertion. But when kings come so low as to fawn upon philosophy, which before they neither valued nor understood, it is a sign that fails not, they are then put to their last trump. Milton. Put the housekeeper to her trumps to accommodate them. W. Irving.
Trump, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Trumped; p. pr. & vb. n. Trumping.]
Definition: To play a trump card when one of another suit has been led.
Trump, v. t.
Definition: To play a trump card upon; to take with a trump card; as, she trumped the first trick.
Trump, v. t. Etym: [F. tromper to deceive, in OF., to blow a trumpet, se tromper de to mock. See Trump a trumpet.]
1. To trick, or impose on; to deceive. [Obs.] "To trick or trump mankind." B. Jonson.
2. To impose unfairly; to palm off. Authors have been trumped upon us. C. Leslie. To trump up, to devise; to collect with unfairness; to fabricate; as, to trump up a charge.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
21 April 2025
(noun) a reference work (often in several volumes) containing articles on various topics (often arranged in alphabetical order) dealing with the entire range of human knowledge or with some particular specialty
The Boston Tea Party helped popularize coffee in America. The hefty tea tax imposed on the colonies in 1773 resulted in America switching from tea to coffee. In the lead up to the Revolutionary War, it became patriotic to sip java instead of tea. The Civil War made the drink more pervasive. Coffee helped energize tired troops, and drinking it became an expression of freedom.
