 |
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Percussion \Per*cus"sion\, noun [L. percussio: cf. F. percussion. See {Percuss}.]
1. The act of percussing, or striking one body against another; forcible collision, esp. such as gives a sound or report. --Sir I. Newton.
2. Hence: The effect of violent collision; vibratory shock; impression of sound on the ear.
The thunderlike percussion of thy sounds. --Shak.
3. (Med.) The act of tapping or striking the surface of the body in order to learn the condition of the parts beneath by the sound emitted or the sensation imparted to the fingers. Percussion is said to be immediate if the blow is directly upon the body; if some interventing substance, as a pleximeter, is, used, it is called mediate.
{Center of percussion}. See under {Center}.
{Percussion bullet}, a bullet containing a substance which is exploded by percussion; an explosive bullet.
{Percussion cap}, a small copper cap or cup, containing fulminating powder, and used with a percussion lock to explode gunpowder.
{Percussion fuze}. See under {Fuze}.
{Percussion lock}, the lock of a gun that is fired by percussion upon fulminating powder.
{Percussion match}, a match which ignites by percussion.
{Percussion powder}, powder so composed as to ignite by slight percussion; fulminating powder.
{Percussion sieve}, {Percussion table}, a machine for sorting ores by agitation in running water.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
percussion
noun
1: the act of playing a percussion instrument
2: the act of exploding a percussion cap
3: the section of a band or orchestra that plays percussion instruments [syn: {percussion section}, {rhythm section}]
4: tapping a part of the body for diagnostic purposes [syn: {pleximetry}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
70 Moby Thesaurus words for "percussion": appulse, battery, bells, bones, brunt, bulldozing, bulling, bump, cannon, carambole, carom, castanets, celesta, chime, chimes, clappers, clash, collision, concussion, crack-up, crash, crash cymbal, crump, crunch, cymbals, encounter, finger cymbals, gamelan, glockenspiel, gong, hammering, handbells, idiophone, impact, impingement, jar, jolt, lyra, maraca, marimba, mauling, meeting, metallophone, onslaught, orchestral bells, percussion instrument, percussions, percussive, ramming, rattle, rattlebones, repercussion, shock, sideswipe, sizzler, sledgehammering, smash, smash-up, smashing, snappers, tam-tam, thrusting, tintinnabula, tonitruone, triangle, tubular bells, vibes, vibraphone, whomp, xylophone
 |
Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information. - KM |