I. ˈtämˌtäm noun
( -s )
Etymology: Hindi ṭamṭam
1. : a small-headed drum of varying shape but typically long and narrow commonly beaten with the hands
religious melodies chanted to the accompaniment of tom-toms — Newsweek
2. : tam-tam
3.
a. : something used to make a noise suggestive of the tom-tom's beating
b. : an insistently monotonous beating, rhythm, or rhythmical sound
the radiators beat an unending tom-tom like the Royal Watusi drums — S.J.Perelman
II. verb
( tom-tomed or tom-tommed ; tom-tomed or tom-tommed ; tom-toming or tom-tomming ; tom-toms )
intransitive verb
: to sound a tom-tom especially as a signal : make tom-tom sounds
waving genial greetings to thousands of tom-toming, grass-skirted Africans — Newsweek
she observed her feet tom-toming out the pattern of rhythm she was whistling — Jesse Lasky
transitive verb
: to sound on the tom-tom : play or execute on or as if on a tom-tom
III. adjective
: of or relating to the tom-tom
traditional tom-tom beaters — Time
: characteristic or suggestive of the tom-tom
tom-tom muffs, with cords around the middle — Lois Long