English

Alternative forms

• drumhead

Noun

drum head ‎(plural drum heads)

1. The thin circle of material attached to the top of a drum shell for the purpose of striking, sometimes made of skin and in such occurrences sometimes referred to as a skin, or drum-skin, but often synthetic.
   • 1845, William Carleton, "The Pudding Bewitched" in Tales and Sketches: Illustrating the Character, Usages, Traditions, Sports and Pastimes of the Irish Peasantry, Dublin: James Duffy, p. 227,

     […] out bounced the pudden itself, hoppin', as nimble as a pea on a drum-head, about the floor.

   • 1854, Henry David Thoreau, Walden, New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., 1910, Chapter XVII, p. 398,

     […] I noticed with surprise, that when I struck the ice with the head of my axe, it resounded like a gong for many rods around, or as if I had struck on a tight drumhead.

   • 2014, John Vincent Bellezza, The Dawn of Tibet: The Ancient Civilization on the Roof of the World, Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, Chapter 2, p. 43,

     Deer as mythological flying creatures appear to have played a vital role in the religious life of Zhang Zhung. It is written in Tibetan texts that its body parts were sought after in the manufacture of ritual objects such a[s] drumheads and tabernacles.

2. A drumhead cabbage.
   • 1896, Fanny Merritt Farmer, The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1918, Chapter XIX,

     The Savoy is best for boiling; drum-head and purple for Cole-Slaw.

Translations

Synonyms

• skin, drum-skin

Derived terms

• drumhead court-martial
• drumhead tribunal