tympan

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

A tympanum.

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

A timbrel or drum.

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.

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

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.

In anatomy, a tympanum.

In architecture, a tympanum.

A drum.