Meanings
plural paradiddles
- entertainmentA percussive exercise (one of 26 drum rudiments per the National Association of Rudimental Drummers or one of 40 per the Percussive Arts Society) which involves playing four even strokes in the order ‘right left right right’ or ‘left right left left.’
I mean, as a drummer, you're sitting at a practice pad for hours on end, doing paradiddles and all the exercises you learn for your craft.
2023 December 8, The Big Issue, Melbourne, page 33, column 2
present singular third person paradiddles · participle present paradiddling · participle past paradiddled · past paradiddled
- To produce percussive sounds of this kind.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe sound of a drum (especially a snare drum) beaten rapidly and continuously
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Imitative. May be related to [Attic] Greek, παραδίδωμι (paradídōmi) 1) to give into the hands (of another) 2) to give over into (one's) power or use 2a) to deliver to one something to keep, use, take care of, manage
Full word history & related roots →Translations
French moulin
- moulinpercussive exercise
German Paradiddle
- Paradiddlepercussive exercise
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with paradiddle
All rhymes →Cite this entry
paradiddle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paradiddle
“paradiddle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paradiddle. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “paradiddle,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paradiddle.
Source: paradiddle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.