side drum

American  

noun

1. snare drum.

---

side drum British  

noun

1. a small double-headed drum carried at the side with snares that produce a rattling effect

---

Etymology

Origin of side drum

First recorded in 1790–1800

Example Sentences

The side drum can be muffled by loosening the snares or by inserting a piece of silk or cloth between the snares and the parchment.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 7 "Drama" to "Dublin" by Various

Then the bottom was removed from the big butter box, the side drum severed, and one end securely fastened under the front end of the toboggan bottom.

From Boy Scouts in Glacier Park The Adventures of Two Young Easterners in the Heart of the High Rockies by Eaton, Walter Prichard

The two halves are kept open by a slight spring fixed to a frame attached to the hoop of a side drum, and the instrument is worked by the drummer with an ordinary drum-stick.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 4 "Carnegie Andrew" to "Casus Belli" by Various

With Drummer Price, an expert of many years' service with the side drum, and L/Cpl.

From The Fifth Leicestershire A Record Of The 1/5th Battalion The Leicestershire Regiment, T.F., During The War, 1914-1919. by Hills, John David

The old cylindrical ear-piercing fife is an obsolete instrument, being superseded by a small army flute, still, however, called a fife, used with the side drum in the drum and fife band.

From Scientific American Supplement No. 819, September 12, 1891 by Various