tambour
Americannoun
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Music. a drum.
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a drum player.
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Also called tabaret. a circular frame consisting of two hoops, one fitting within the other, in which cloth is stretched for embroidering.
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embroidery done on such a frame.
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Furniture. a flexible shutter used as a desk top or in place of a door, composed of a number of closely set wood strips attached to a piece of cloth, the whole sliding in grooves along the sides or at the top and bottom.
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Architecture. drum.
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Court Tennis. a sloping buttress opposite the penthouse, on the hazard side of the court.
verb (used with or without object)
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tambours,
present (3rd person singular)
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tamboured,
past participle, past
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tambouring
present participle
noun
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real tennis the sloping buttress on one side of the receiver's end of the court
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a small round embroidery frame, consisting of two concentric hoops over which the fabric is stretched while being worked
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embroidered work done on such a frame
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a sliding door on desks, cabinets, etc, made of thin strips of wood glued side by side onto a canvas backing
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architect a wall that is circular in plan, esp one that supports a dome or one that is surrounded by a colonnade
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a drum
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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tamboursimple
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tambourssimple
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have tambouredperfect
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has tambouredperfect
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am tambouringprogressive
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are tambouringprogressive
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is tambouringprogressive
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have been tambouringperfect progressive
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has been tambouringperfect progressive
Past
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tambouredsimple
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had tambouredperfect
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was tambouringprogressive
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were tambouringprogressive
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had been tambouringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tambour
1475–85; < Middle French: drum ≪ Arabic tanbūr lute < Medieval Greek pandoúra; cf. bandore
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But when she tried her hand at drapo, which traditionally involved only sequins, she found that tambour and beadwork opened new possibilities in contour, depth and detail.
From New York Times ● Jan. 25, 2023
It is a hybrid instrument - his invention - combining the neck of an guitar with a traditional four-stringed tambour.
From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2022
They use a tambour hook technique called Lunéville, named after the town in Lorraine where it emerged around 1810, having traveled the Silk Road from Asia.
From New York Times ● Oct. 11, 2021
Stowage above is behind teak tambour doors, and below in three drawers and two cabinets.
From Time Magazine Archive
The earliest of the known mechanical sewing devices produced a chain or tambour stitch, but by an entirely different principle than that used with either needle just described.
From The Invention of the Sewing Machine by Grace Rogers Cooper
These tambours cannot well be recommended; the material is apt to stretch unevenly, and a worked part, if flattened between the hoops, is liable to be damaged.
From Embroidery and Tapestry Weaving by Grace Christie
Ten pennons whipped from her masts, and the cry of horns, tambours, and kettledrums blended with the shoutings of her crew.
From A Victor of Salamis by William Stearns Davis
Six of them had immense flat drums or tambours, which they presently began to beat noisily.
From Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine by Walter L. (Walter Lytle) Pyle
Single pipes and double pipes, tinkling lyres and many-stringed citharas, not to forget herdsmen’s reed flutes, cymbals, and tambours, all made melody and noise together.
From A Victor of Salamis by William Stearns Davis
Having mentioned their great horns, he adds, “ils font si grand’ noise avec grands tambours qu’ils ont aussi.”
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 7 "Drama" to "Dublin" by Various
Also say that I have altered my mind about the satin, which I wish to be tamboured with crochet-work; also, that tambour is to be used with monograms on the various garments.
From Poor Folk by C. J. Hogarth
The wristbands over his finely shaped and gloved hands were tamboured in the same beautiful manner, and fringed with lace of the most costly texture.
From Captain Kyd, Vol. II or, The Wizard of the Sea by Jonathon Holt Ingraham
Through the bosom of the frock, which was folded back, appeared linen of the finest cambric, richly tamboured, as if done by the fair fingers of some tasteful maiden.
From Captain Kyd, Vol. II or, The Wizard of the Sea by Jonathon Holt Ingraham
Their employments are the needle, tambouring, and reading.
From Life of Lord Byron, Vol. 1 With His Letters and Journals by Thomas Moore
Never mind the pieces of needle-work, the tambouring, the maps of the world made by her needle.
From Advice to Young Men And (Incidentally) to Young Women in the Middle and Higher Ranks of Life. In a Series of Letters, Addressed to a Youth, a Bachelor, a Lover, a Husband, a Father, a Citizen, or a Subject. by William Cobbett
In England, Edward Newton and Thomas Archbold invented and patented a machine on May 4, 1841, for tambouring or ornamenting the backs of gloves.
From The Invention of the Sewing Machine by Grace Rogers Cooper
Weavers of muslin were brought to the mill, and women to teach the lassie bairns in our old clachan tambouring instead of hand-spinning.
From The World's Greatest Books — Volume 04 — Fiction by Sir John Alexander Hammerton
Two neat shelves on the wall contained a few books; and in the window stood a tambouring frame.
From Discipline by Mary Brunton
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