percussive

comparative more percussive · superlative most percussive

1. Characterized by percussion; caused by or related to the action of striking or pounding something.

   He massaged her shoulders with a gentle percussive action.

   1 more example

   As argued by Dr. Burney, and as implied by the customs of still extant barbarous races, the first musical instruments were, without doubt, percussive—sticks, calabashes, tom-toms—and were used simply to mark the time of the dance ; and in this constant repetition of the same sound, we see music in its most homogeneous form.

   1864, Herbert Spencer, “Progress: Its Law and Cause”, in Illustrations of Universal Progress: A Series of Discussions, New York: D. Appleton and Company, page 26

2. human sciencesProduced by striking organs together, for example, smacking the lips or gnashing the teeth.

   1 more example

   Two additional, and much rarer, percussive articulations are represented by symbols in the extIPA chart. Their exclusion from the main IPA chart is an indication that they do not seem to occur as typical forms of adult speech in any part of the world, although they may have some communicative function. The symbol, [ʬ], is used to transcribe a bilabial percussive sound, which might be described in lay terms as lip-smacking.

   2013, Nigel Hewlett, Janet Mackenzie Beck, An Introduction to the Science of Phonetics, Routledge, →ISBN

plural percussives

1. human sciencesA percussive phone.

   Percussives are articulations where two rigid or semirigid articulators are struck against each other to produce a short, sharp sound.

   2014, Martin J. Ball, Nicole Muller, Phonetics for Communication Disorders, Psychology Press, →ISBN