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percussion

Syllabification: (per·cus·sion)
Pronunciation: /pərˈkəSHən/
Translate percussion | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of percussion

noun

  • 1musical instruments played by striking with the hand or with a handheld or pedal-operated stick or beater, or by shaking, including drums, cymbals, xylophones, gongs, bells, and rattles: [as modifier]:percussion instruments the percussion section
  • 2the striking of one solid object with or against another with some degree of force:the clattering percussion of objects striking the walls and the shutters
  • Medicine the action of tapping a part of the body as part of a diagnosis:the chest sounded dull on percussion

Derivatives

percussionist

Pronunciation: /-ist/
noun
percussion (sense 1).

percussive

Pronunciation: /-ˈkəsiv/
adjective

percussively

Pronunciation: /-ˈkəsivlē/
adverb

percussiveness

Pronunciation: /-ˈkəsivnis/
noun

Origin:

late Middle English: from Latin percussio(n-), from the verb percutere 'to strike forcibly' (see percuss)

Remember that percussion is spelled with a double s.

percussion in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of percussion in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

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