eardrum
Pluraleardrums
- 1The thin membrane between the outer ear and the middle ear, which vibrates to pass sound from the air on to the malleus.
Like the stretched skin of a drum that vibrates whenever sound waves strike it.
An ear infection caused fluid to build up behind the eardrum.
A sudden change in pressure can rupture the eardrum during a deep dive.
Note
A plain compound, ear plus drum, that names the membrane by its likeness to a stretched drumhead. Anatomists and clinicians call the same structure the tympanic membrane. It is the first link in a chain: its vibrations pass to the malleus and on through the ossicles of the middle ear. Everyday English writes it as one word, and it comes up most often when something goes wrong, as in a ruptured or infected eardrum.
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Origin
Formed from the words "ear" and "drum."