a. [ Pref. post- + tympanic. ] (Anat.) Situated behind the tympanum, or in the skull, behind the auditory meatus. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., fr. L. tympanum a kettledrum, a panel of a door. See Tympanum, and cf. Tymp. ] 1. A drum. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Arch.) A panel; a tympanum. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Print.) A frame covered with parchment or cloth, on which the blank sheets are put, in order to be laid on the form to be impressed. [ 1913 Webster ]

Tympan sheet (Print.), a sheet of paper of the same size as that to be printed, pasted on the tympan, and serving as a guide in laying the sheets evenly for printing. W. Savage. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Tympanic. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Anat.) The tympanic bone. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See Tympanum. ] 1. Like a tympanum or drum; acting like a drumhead; as, a tympanic membrane. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the tympanum. [ 1913 Webster ]

Tympanic bone (Anat.), a bone of the skull which incloses a part of the tympanum and supports the tympanic membrane. --
Tympanic membrane. (Anat.) See the Note under Ear. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. tympaniste, Gr. tympanisth`s. ] One who beats a drum. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ L., fr. Gr. tympani`ths, fr. ty`mpanon a kettledrum. ] (Med.) A flatulent distention of the belly; tympany. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. tympaniticus one afflicted with tympanites. ] (Med.) Of, pertaining to, or affected with, tympanites. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ NL. See Tympanum, and -itis. ] (Med.) Inflammation of the lining membrane of the middle ear. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ L. tympanizare to beat a drum, Gr. tympani`zein. ] To drum. [ R. ] Coles. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Tympanized p. pr. & vb. n. Tympanizing ] To stretch, as a skin over the head of a drum; to make into a drum or drumhead, or cause to act or sound like a drum. [ Obs. ] “Tympanized, as other saints of God were.” Oley. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Tympani [ It. timpano. See Tympanum. ] (Mus.) A kettledrum; -- chiefly used in the plural to denote the kettledrums of an orchestra. See Kettledrum. [ Written also timpano. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

A combining form used in anatomy to indicate connection with, or relation to, the tympanum; as in tympanohyal, tympano-Eustachian. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the tympanum and the hyoidean arch. -- n. The proximal segment in the hyoidean arch, becoming a part of the styloid process of the temporal bone in adult man. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. E. Tympanums L. Tympana [ L., a kettledrum, a drum or wheel in machines, the triangular area in a pediment, the panel of a door, Gr. ty`mpanon, ty`panon, fr. &unr_; to strike, beat. See Type, and cf. Timbrel. ] 1. (Anat.) (a) The ear drum, or middle ear. Sometimes applied incorrectly to the tympanic membrane. See Ear. (b) A chamber in the anterior part of the syrinx of birds. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) One of the naked, inflatable air sacs on the neck of the prairie chicken and other species of grouse. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Arch.) (a) The recessed face of a pediment within the frame made by the upper and lower cornices, being usually a triangular space or table. (b) The space within an arch, and above a lintel or a subordinate arch, spanning the opening below the arch. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Mech.) A drum-shaped wheel with spirally curved partitions by which water is raised to the axis when the wheel revolves with the lower part of the circumference submerged, -- used for raising water, as for irrigation. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_;, fr. &unr_; a kettledrum. See Tympanites. ] 1. (Med.) A flatulent distention of the belly; tympanites. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence, inflation; conceit; bombast; turgidness. “Thine's a tympany of sense.” Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

A plethoric a tautologic tympany of sentence. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]