Illustration of shofar
plural shofroth
shō-ˈfrōt 
-ˈfrōth,
-ˈfrōs
: the horn of a ruminant animal and usually a ram blown as a trumpet by the ancient Hebrews in battle and during religious observances and used in modern Judaism especially during Rosh Hashanah and at the end of Yom Kippur
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One of the shofar's original uses was to proclaim the Jubilee year (a year of emancipation of enslaved Jews and restoration of alienated lands to their former owners). Today, it is mainly used in synagogues during the High Holidays. It is blown daily, except on Shabbat, during the month of Elul (the 12th month of the civil year or the 6th month of the ecclesiastical year in the Jewish calendar), and is sounded a number of times during the Rosh Hashanah services, and again at the end of the last service (known as neilah) on Yom Kippur. The custom is to sound the shofar in several series that alternate shorter notes resembling sobbing and wailing with longer unbroken blasts.
Examples of shofar in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
There was Isaac, a boy who carried around a miniature shofar in his pocket and blew it at inopportune times, though arguably there are few opportune times to blow a ram’s horn in modern life.
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Nicolaia Rips, The New Yorker, 21 June 2024
In that way, Baig said, the towers were similar in function to the bells that signal the start of Christian services or the ram’s horn, or shofar, blown in synagogues to inaugurate Rosh Hashana.
—Jonathan M. Pitts, Baltimore Sun, 24 May 2024
At a campaign rally in October, a huge screen with the image of a man wearing a Jewish prayer shawl and blowing a shofar suddenly illuminated the stadium.
—Leila Miller, Los Angeles Times, 9 Dec. 2023
Tikvah holds a community High Holiday celebration and services with traditional blowing of the shofar (ram’s horn) at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 15 and 9:30 a.m. Sept. 16 led by Cantor Larry Kornit on the campus of Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 925 Balour Drive, and via Zoom.
—Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Sep. 2023
See all Example Sentences for shofar 
Nicolaia Rips, The New Yorker, 21 June 2024
In that way, Baig said, the towers were similar in function to the bells that signal the start of Christian services or the ram’s horn, or shofar, blown in synagogues to inaugurate Rosh Hashana.
—Jonathan M. Pitts, Baltimore Sun, 24 May 2024
At a campaign rally in October, a huge screen with the image of a man wearing a Jewish prayer shawl and blowing a shofar suddenly illuminated the stadium.
—Leila Miller, Los Angeles Times, 9 Dec. 2023
Tikvah holds a community High Holiday celebration and services with traditional blowing of the shofar (ram’s horn) at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 15 and 9:30 a.m. Sept. 16 led by Cantor Larry Kornit on the campus of Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 925 Balour Drive, and via Zoom.
—Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Sep. 2023
See all Example Sentences for shofar
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'shofar.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Shofar.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shofar. Accessed 27 Jul. 2024.
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