bull-roarer

[ bool-rawr-er, -rohr- ]

noun
  1. a wooden slat that produces a roaring sound when whirled around one's head on the end of a string or thong, used by some peoples of the world in religious ceremonies and by others as a toy.

Origin of bull-roarer

1
First recorded in 1880–85

Words Nearby bull-roarer

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use bull-roarer in a sentence

  • In many instances a secret ceremonial object is used,—a bull roarer in the rain making ceremonies.

  • The bull-roarer, indeed, is an instrument of tone and noise that is to be found only among relatively primitive peoples.

  • Nevertheless, there has been discovered, again among the Bushmen, a form of bull-roarer of an especially primitive character.

  • This tone, however, is not capable of further perfection, so that no other musical instrument developed from the bull-roarer.

  • Here it is employed as an instrument of noise and magic, similarly to the bull-roarer of the Australians.

British Dictionary definitions for bullroarer

bullroarer

/ (ˈbʊlˌrɔːrə) /


noun
  1. a wooden slat attached to a thong that makes a roaring sound when the thong is whirled: used esp by native Australians in religious rites

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012