Subscriber login


Forgot your password?

Library card login

Other

percussion

Pronunciation: /pəˈkʌʃ(ə)n/
Translate percussion | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of percussion

noun

[mass noun]
  • 1musical instruments played by striking with the hand or with a stick or beater, or by shaking, including drums, cymbals, xylophones, gongs, bells, and rattles: [as modifier]:percussion instruments
  • 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

noun
percussion (sense 1).

Origin:

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

Spelling help

Remember that percussion is spelled with a double s.

percussion in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of percussion in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

  |  Cite

More words in this category

Word of the day

ludology

/ luːˈdɒlədʒi /
noun
the study of games and gaming, especially video games …