Definition of "tambourine" [tam•bour•ine]

• A percussion instrument consisting of a small drumhead with jingling disks fitted into the rim, usually played by shaking and striking with the hand. (noun)
• A similar instrument without a drumhead. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "In the hands of a Jewish woman, the tambourine is a symbol of passage, hope, and achievement."
• " She doesn't look anything like Louise, who is lean and black haired, but the tambourine is a lot like the one I held in New Orleans last spring when we went to Mardi Gras and sang dive-bar karaoke."
• "He tells me that the tambourine is the sole feminine instrument of the Middle East."