Skip to main content
kettledrum

kettledrum

1 6.0
A large round drum in an orchestra you tune to play a clear note
  • noun
  • /ˈkɛtəlˌdrʌm/
translation icon : timbal
  • The dancer departed; the musicians undertook a new selection with instruments similar to oboe, flute, cello, and kettledrum.
  • kettledrum and trumpet

Examples

  • On their return to the Botanic Gardens, they had sometimes been hailed by a kettledrum and French horns.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • Cakes and kettledrums.

  • Mr Dick moved as if playing the kettledrums.

  • Mr Dick, you look like you're playing the kettledrums.

  • I'm a kettledrum

  • Governing the use of these signals, and of trumpet and kettledrum practice in general in the lands of the Holy Roman Empire, which in turn influenced use in other countries.

    Academic text (2015)
  • The dead beating kettledrums, the sackcloth dead slitting a pilgrim's throat.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • I woke up in the shadowed dark, hands clenched in the bedclothes, heart beating with a force that shook me like the skin of a kettledrum.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Reith listened for a moment, puzzled by the plaintive scraping, the thumps of the kettledrum, and the sudden excited trills of the flute.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • The orchestra featured a kettledrum that added a rich, resonant sound to the performance.

Synonyms

drum
vskettledrum
275 1.0

A hollow cylinder with a tight skin that you hit to make a beat

is the specific tunable orchestral bowl instrument producing definite pitch
timpani
vskettledrum
4 7.9

Large round drums used in an orchestra that you can tune to different notes

is the single instrument rather than a group used together
kettle
vskettledrum
3 8.6

A large metal drum with a tight skin that you can tune and orchestras play

is the common orchestral instrument producing definite tuned pitches
tympani
vskettledrum
1 8.4

A large bowl-shaped drum played with mallets

focuses on producing a definite pitch used in orchestras
timpano
vskettledrum
9.7

A single large drum with a bowl shape used in orchestras

is the usual word for that orchestral instrument broadly
tympanum
vskettledrum
  • Archaic
9.9

A large round drum made of metal with a skin you can tighten to change the sound

refers to the same tunable orchestral instrument in standard usage

How Loud

bass drum
  • Specialized
5 3.0
kettledrum
1 6.0
snare drum
3 3.5
tom-tom
2 8.1
tambourine
21 3.4

Surface Forms

kettledrum singular
kettledrums plural

Morphology

kettledrum = kettle + drum (transparent) = kettle + drum

The compound is a straightforward combination of 'kettle' and 'drum' referring to a drum with a kettle-like shell, so learners can derive the meaning from the parts.

Etymology

Kettledrum comes from the two simple words kettle and drum. A kettle is a metal 'pot', so the name paints a picture of a drum shaped like a metal pot. So, a kettledrum is the large, rounded orchestral drum that you can tune to a musical note.