ear trumpet

a trumpet-shaped device held to the ear for collecting and intensifying sounds and once commonly used as an aid to hearing.

Origin of ear trumpet

First recorded in 1770–80

This was rather an ear-trumpet than a speaking-trumpet, and it is certain that the former was invented before the latter.

A History of Inventions, Discoveries, and Origins, Volume I (of 2) |Johann Beckman
But it was the ear-trumpet, rendered necessary by her deafness, which afforded the greatest entertainment.

Celebrated Women Travellers of the Nineteenth Century |W. H. Davenport Adams
Her hair was a rich raw sienna, and any man would have made love to her had she but carried an ear-trumpet.

Marge Askinforit |Barry Pain
And Joe snatched the ear-trumpet out of his hand, and jerked it over a shed into the field behind.

The Strand Magazine, Volume V, Issue 28, April 1893 |Various

The ear-trumpet described furious circles in the air—another danger signal, as I knew from experience.

Rebel women |Evelyn Sharp

ear trumpet

a trumpet-shaped instrument that amplifies sounds and is held to the ear: an old form of hearing aid