percussion instrument

American  

noun

1. a musical instrument, as the drum, cymbal, triangle, xylophone, or piano, that is struck to produce a sound, as distinguished from string or wind instruments.

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percussion instrument British  

noun

1. any of various musical instruments that produce a sound when their resonating surfaces are struck directly, as with a stick or mallet, or by leverage action. They may be of definite pitch (as a kettledrum or xylophone), indefinite pitch (as a gong or rattle), or a mixture of both (as various drums)

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Etymology

Origin of percussion instrument

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

A percussion instrument was also designed, with the drum head using the same material as the vessel's sails.

From BBC • Dec. 12, 2025

They would weave through the cemetery with their marimbas — a percussion instrument with a warm sound, similar to a xylophone — between the elevated tombs, playing traditional Latin music.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 26, 2022

Lionel Frazier-White III’s “Wish You Knew the Sound” clusters objects related to Black music-making, including a washboard — used as a percussion instrument in folk music — and pages from a hymnal.

From Washington Post • Dec. 1, 2021

As the strings play a genial, ambling theme, a percussion instrument mimics a clock’s ticktocks as the seconds pass.

From New York Times • Apr. 22, 2020

If a percussion instrument does produce pitched sounds, however, the reason, again, is that it is mainly producing harmonic-series overtones24 .

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones