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n. Printing A padding, as of paper or cloth, placed over the platen of a press to regulate the pressure on the sheet being printed.

n. Architecture A tympanum.

n. A tightly stretched sheet or membrane, as on the head of a drum.

n. a piece of cloth padding placed under the platen of a letterpress to distribute the pressure on the sheet being printed

n. the stretched membrane of a drum; a percussion instrument consisting of a hollow cylinder with such a membrane at each end

n. a tympanum

n. A drum.

n. A panel; a tympanum.

n. A frame covered with parchment or cloth, on which the blank sheets are put, in order to be laid on the form to be impressed.

n. A timbrel or drum.

n. An ancient Irish musical instrument, the exact nature of which is disputed. Probably it had strings, and was played with a bow, thus resembling the crowd.

n. A stretched membrane, or a tense sheet of some thin material, as that of a drumhead.

n. In a printing-press having a platen, a framed appliance interposed between the platen and the sheet to be printed, for softening and equalizing the pressure, by means of blankets between its two parts; the outer and the inner tympan.

n. In anatomy, a tympanum.

n. In architecture, a tympanum.

n. a musical percussion instrument; usually consists of a hollow cylinder with a membrane stretched across each end

"The "thing" presented here is an unadorned image of Hone's printing press, an iron Stanhope with the tympan raised to the right."

percussion instrument    percussive instrument   

tympan of an arch   

side drum    tambourine    bass drum    bongo drum    tabor    tambour    tabour    bongo    gran casa    tom-tom   

drum    panel    tympanum