1965–70; Irish Gaelic bodhrán, from Middle Irish bodrán, from bodar “deafening, deaf”
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A nearby human would throb like a bodhran as subsonic waves bounced around her chest.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 19, 2017
He also busied himself with a few songs he knows on the tin whistle and thumped the bodhran on occasion.
From New York Times ● Jan. 17, 2017
Flautist Jean-Michel Veillon represents the Breton strand of Celtic culture, and John Joe Kelly is a maestro of the bodhran, the traditional Irish frame drum.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 12, 2015
The lush harmonies, intricate acoustic arrangements — fiddle, guitar, banjo, bodhran, whistles and more — make this far from standard fare.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 24, 2014
His bowing techniques often added a percussive overlay that augmented Shane Shanahan’s subtle contributions on the bodhran, a frame drum, and Mr. O’Dette’s gentle strumming.
From New York Times ● Jun. 20, 2011
The crowd sang along as Sheeran played the guitar, accompanied by the other artists on violin and the bodhrán - a traditional Irish frame drum.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2025
The fellow with the bodhrán showed that it was all that he said it was.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 31, 2014
Last week at the Mac, the stunning new Metropolitan Arts Centre in the city's cathedral quarter, the cross-community 2012 McCracken summer school was launched to the sound of fiddle and bodhrán.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 7, 2012
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
