drumhead

[druhm-hed]

noun

the membrane stretched upon a drum.
the top part of a capstan.

adjective

characteristic of a drumhead court-martial; carried out in summary fashion: a drumhead execution.

Origin of drumhead

First recorded in 1615–25; drum¹ + head

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for drumhead

Historical Examples of drumhead

The veil is stretched like a drumhead from the stem to the margin of the cap.
The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise
M. E. Hard
How can you catch trout with everything frozen as tight as a drumhead?
Left on the Labrador
Dillon Wallace
A pea on a drumhead is a restful object in comparison with Watson on that ice-hill.
Chatterbox, 1906
Various
It sounded in the silence as if it were falling on a drumhead.
McClure's Magazine, Vol 31, No 2, June 1908
Various
In the drumhead of a capstan, the holes receive the capstan-bars.
The Sailor's Word-Book
William Henry Smyth

British Dictionary definitions for drumhead

drumhead

noun

music the part of a drum that is actually struck with a stick or the hand
the head of a capstan, pierced with holes for the capstan bars
another name for eardrum

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

drumhead in Medicine

drumhead

[drŭm′hĕd′]

eardrum