tympan

American  

[tim-puhn] / ˈtɪm pən /

noun

1. Printing. a padlike device interposed between the platen or its equivalent and the sheet to be printed, in order to soften and equalize the pressure.

2. tympanum.

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tympan British  

/ ˈtɪmpən /

noun

1. a membrane stretched over a frame or resonating cylinder, bowl, etc

2. printing packing interposed on a hand-operated text between the platen and the paper to be printed in order to provide an even impression

3. architect another name for tympanum

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Etymology

Origin of tympan

before 900; Middle English: drum, Old English < Latin tympanum tympanum

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tympan

In the lower half of the tympan Satan is enthroned, his feet resting upon a writhing and hideously grimacing figure, supposed to be that of Judas.

From Wanderings by southern waters, eastern Aquitaine by Barker, Edward Harrison

Mechanisms are employed to move the "tympan sheet" or outside covering of the second cylinder along at fixed intervals, but they are complicated and troublesome.

From The Building of a Book A Series of Practical Articles Written by Experts in the Various Departments of Book Making and Distributing by Hitchcock, Frederick H.

It consisted of a table, along which the forme of type, furnished with a tympan and frisket, was pushed by hand.

From Men of Invention and Industry by Smiles, Samuel

We may call him toad-hopper or spittle-bug, or as Fabre says, "Contentons-nous de Cicadelle, qui respecte le tympan."

From Edge of the Jungle by Beebe, William

Attached to the upper end of the inner frame by hinges was a thin and narrow frame, called the "frisket," of the same length and width as the inner tympan frame.

From The Building of a Book A Series of Practical Articles Written by Experts in the Various Departments of Book Making and Distributing by Hitchcock, Frederick H.