tympan

Plural: tympans

Noun

• A drum, especially the membrane of the middle ear.
• a musical percussion instrument; usually consists of a hollow cylinder with a membrane stretched across each end
• A piece of cloth padding placed under the platen of a letterpress to distribute the pressure on the sheet being printed.
• The stretched membrane of a drum.
• A percussion instrument consisting of a hollow cylinder with such a membrane at each end.
• A tympanum.
• The tympanum of the ear.

Examples

• Playing TYMPAN on a double-word score was music to his ears in Words With Friends.

Synonyms

drum, membranophone