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/drˈəmhˌɛd/ Listen

noun

Drumhead n.

The parchment or skin stretched over one end of a drum.

The top of a capstan which is pierced with sockets for levers used in turning it.

Drumhead court-martial (Mil.), a summary court-martial called to try offenses on the battlefield or the line of march, when, sometimes, a drumhead has to do service as a writing table.

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Etymology of 'Drumhead'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Drumhead" Quotes from Famous Books

... he handled the gold rings, he showed me that they were very old; but when he handled the drumhead and looked at ...

— King Alfred's Viking - A Story of the First English Fleet • Charles W. Whistler

... largely attended. But such services, however picturesque and interesting, are but a small part of the chaplain's duty. He makes them the centre of his work, for at no other time can he get so many of his men around him; and standing there at the drumhead, he gives God's message with all the power he ...

— From Aldershot to Pretoria - A Story of Christian Work among Our Troops in South Africa • W. E. Sellers

... so. He replied that he did not have his breakfast and would not fall in till he had. He was at once made a prisoner and marched as such to Walmer forest, when the commanding officer applied for a drumhead court-martial. In consequence of the prisoner's previous good character, the general directed the colonel to deal with the case, and he was ...

— A Soldier's Life - Being the Personal Reminiscences of Edwin G. Rundle • Edwin G. Rundle

... (Out of prison, yes; out of the grave, never) was fully acted upon. There were really no incriminating papers of any description upon me, but my being seen and associating with persons opposed to the provisional government was quite enough to place me before a drumhead court-martial. ...

— The Secrets of the German War Office • Dr. Armgaard Karl Graves

... do you?" inquired Colonel Ward, a flavor of satiric skepticism in his voice. He was gazing quizzically forward to where Mr. Bodge sat on the capstan's drumhead, his nose elevated with wistful eagerness, his whiskers flapping about his ears, his eyes ...

— The Skipper and the Skipped - Being the Shore Log of Cap'n Aaron Sproul • Holman Day

... scrape, and the high officers from the quarter-deck were no wiser than the lieutenant and master. In the midst of the confusion, Howe and Wilton had removed the pins from the bars, which still remained in the drumhead of the capstan. ...

— Down the Rhine - Young America in Germany • Oliver Optic

... afraid that I behaved very badly. Captain Archer says that I nearly spoiled all their plans, and that I deserved to be tried by a drumhead court-martial and shot. The fact is that, when I heard the Arabs beneath me, I forgot myself in my anxiety to know if any of you ...

— The Tragedy of The Korosko • Arthur Conan Doyle

... the Dutch leaders fell into the hands of the British. It is a pity that his record is stained by his dishonourable conduct in breaking the compact made on the occasion of the capture of Prinsloo. But for British magnanimity a drumhead court-martial should have taken the place of the ...

— The Great Boer War • Arthur Conan Doyle