Emily Dickinson Lexicon

TRUMP, n. [It. tromba; Gaelic, trompa. See Trumpet.]

1. A trumpet; a wind instrument of music; a poetical word used for trumpet. It is seldom used in prose, in common discourse; but is used in Scripture, where it seems peculiarly appropriate to the grandeur of the subject. At the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised. 1 Cor. xv. 1 Thess iv.
2. [contracted from triumph; It. trionfo, Fr. triomphe.] A winning card; one of the suit of cards which takes any of the other suits.
3. An old game with cards. To put to the trumps, or To put on the trumps, to reduce to the last expedient, or to the utmost exertion of power.