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

noun. A tympanum.

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

noun. A timbrel or drum.

noun. 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.

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

noun. 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.

noun. In anatomy, a tympanum.

noun. In architecture, a tympanum.

noun. A drum.

noun. A panel; a tympanum.

noun. 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.

noun. a sheet of paper of the same size as that to be printed, pasted on the tympan, and serving as a guide in laying the sheets evenly for printing.

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

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

noun. a tympanum

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

"PARANOID SELF-LOATHING GOP LOBBYIST'S NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA- Pa rum pum pum pum isn't just the beat produced by the Little Drummer Boy's tympan, It's also the pulsing noise in our Paranoid Self Loathing GOP Lobbyist's head that he insists are brain-permeating, voter intimidation gamma rays from ACORN's headquarters!"