[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

tambour \tam"bour\, n.
   1. mus. a kind of small flat drum; a tambourine.
      1913 webster

   2. a small frame, commonly circular, and somewhat resembling
      a tambourine, used for stretching, and firmly holding, a
      portion of cloth that is to be embroidered; also, the
      embroidery done upon such a frame; -- called also, in the
      latter sense, tambour work.
      1913 webster

   3. arch. same as drum, n., 2
      d .
          1913 webster

   4. fort. a work usually in the form of a redan, to inclose
      a space before a door or staircase, or at the gorge of a
      larger work. it is arranged like a stockade.
      1913 webster

   5. physiol. a shallow metallic cup or drum, with a thin
      elastic membrane supporting a writing lever. two or more
      of these are connected by an india rubber tube, and used
      to transmit and register the movements of the pulse or of
      any pulsating artery.
      1913 webster
see also:
tambour work drum 

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