eardrum

[eer-druhm]

See more synonyms for eardrum on Thesaurus.com

noun Anatomy, Zoology.

a membrane in the ear canal between the external ear and the middle ear; tympanic membrane.

Origin of eardrum

First recorded in 1635–45; ear¹ + drum¹

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

Related Words for eardrum

tympanum

Examples from the Web for eardrum

Contemporary Examples of eardrum

He also failed a drug test and allegedly hit a bouncer so hard he punctured his eardrum.
Sham Classes and Crime Coverups Are the NCAA Normal
Robert Silverman
June 7, 2014

Historical Examples of eardrum

So do the adjacent molecules of air and so does the eardrum of a listener.
Letters of a Radio-Engineer to His Son
John Mills
When sounds strike the eardrum it vibrates and excites the nerve of hearing.
The Insect Folk
Margaret Warner Morley
Interference with the action of the eardrum may be due to the partial destruction of the drum itself.
Physiology
Ernest G. Martin
When the molecules of air next your ear receive the push they in turn push against your eardrum.
Letters of a Radio-Engineer to His Son
John Mills
As they move away they make a little vacuum there and the eardrum puffs out.
Letters of a Radio-Engineer to His Son
John Mills

British Dictionary definitions for eardrum

eardrum

noun

the nontechnical name for tympanic membrane

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

Word Origin and History for eardrum

1640s, from ear (n.1) + drum (n.).

eardrum in Medicine

eardrum

[îr′drŭm′]

The thin, semitransparent, oval-shaped membrane that separates the middle ear from the external ear.drum drumhead drum membrane myringa myrinx tympanic membrane tympanum

eardrum in Science

eardrum

[îr′drŭm′]

The thin, oval-shaped membrane that separates the middle ear from the outer ear. It vibrates in response to sound waves, which are then transmitted to the ossicles of the middle ear. Also called tympanic membrane

eardrum in Culture

eardrum

The membrane that divides the outer ear from the middle ear. The vibrations of this membrane in response to sound waves lead to the sensation of hearing. Also called the tympanic membrane.