eardrumn.
/ˈɪədrʌm/, U.S. /ˈɪrˌdrəm/ The tympanic membrane, which separates the middle ear from the external ear canal. Cf. drum n.1 5.Earliest in hyperbolical contexts, with reference to sound apparently damaging the eardrum: cf. Phrases.
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the world > life > the body > sense organ > hearing organ > parts of hearing organ > [noun] > ear-drum
tympan1549
tabor1594
drum1615
tympanum1619
meninx1630
eardrum1708
middle ear1808
1708 Brit. Apollo 10–15 Dec. 'Till such Peals She send, Your Ear-Drums may rend.
1798 M. Edgeworth & R. L. Edgeworth Pract. Educ. I. iv. 129 The much-enduring ear-drum of the nursery-maid.
1805 Sporting Mag. May 109/1 Their ear-drums crack, so hoarse her bawling.
1875 T. H. Huxley in Encycl. Brit. iii. 716/2 Two or three tympanics on each side help to form their [sc. woodpeckers'] remarkable cowrie-shaped ear-drum.
1951 S. Plath Jrnl. Apr. (2000) 62 His nasal voice crackles against my eardrums.
1994 Health Facts Sept. 5/3 The surgery involves a small cut in the eardrum (myringotomy) and withdrawal of fluid in the middle ear.
2009 New Yorker 24 Aug. 28/3 Another brutish impediment to diving deep is burst eardrums.
Phrases
In hyperbolic phrase to burst (also break, split, etc.) a person's eardrums: (of a noise) to be so loud that it appears to damage the eardrums.
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1833 Entomol. Mag. July 329 A wild shriek of horror or fright burst from all the horses at once,—it seemed to crack one's ear-drums.
1899 Sat. Evening Post 29 Apr. 691/1 Through them and over them they rode, till the yelping of the dying hounds was like to split their eardrums.
1941 Amer. Boy Feb. 12/3 ‘My cats!’ Lee said, amazed, and the voice almost split his eardrums as it came back.
1965 M. Spark Mandelbaum Gate v. 122 Gardnor's hushed confidence continued to scorch Freddy's ear-drums.
2005 Wire Dec. 58/3 Mattin and Goldie can burst eardrums..but..[they] use disturbingly quiet passages and slow menacing drones to equally devastating effect.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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