Bullroarer
noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A ritual musical instrument and means of communicating over extended distances, consisting of a slat of wood tied to the end of a thong or string, with which the slat is whirled so as to cause an intermittent roaring noise.
"So far he was on the track of elementary Science. And so he made "bull-roarers" to imitate the sound of wind and the blessed rain-bringing thunder, or clashed great bronze cymbals together with the same object."
Example
More examples"So far he was on the track of elementary Science. And so he made "bull-roarers" to imitate the sound of wind and the blessed rain-bringing thunder, or clashed great bronze cymbals together with the same object."
Etymology
From bull + roarer.
Related phrases
More for "bullroarer"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.