bull-roarer

American  

[bool-rawr-er, -rohr-] / ˈbʊlˌrɔr ər, -ˌroʊr- /

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.

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Etymology

Origin of bull-roarer

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

Both Greeks and savages employ the bull-roarer, both bedaub the initiated with dirt or with white paint or chalk.

From Custom and Myth New Edition by Lang, Andrew

We do not learn, however, that women in Zuni are forbidden to look upon the bull-roarer.

From Custom and Myth New Edition by Lang, Andrew

A number of artifacts, specifically the tubular stone pipes, human hair cape, cane whistles, and the probable bull-roarer, were associated with shamans among the historic peoples of the peninsula.

From A Burial Cave in Baja California The Palmer Collection, 1887 by Massey, William C.

Can it be that I inherit from a stone-age ancestor both the fear and love of the bull-roarer?

From Rustic Sounds and Other Studies in Literature and Natural History by Darwin, Francis, Sir

But Greek mysteries retained the daubing with mud and the use of the bull-roarer.

From Custom and Myth New Edition by Lang, Andrew