perˈcussive, a. (n.)
(pəˈkʌsɪv)
[f. L. percuss-, ppl. stem of percutĕre (see percuss) + -ive.]
Having the property of striking; of, pertaining to, characterized by, or connected with percussion.
| 1793 Holcroft tr. Lavater's Physiogn. xiii. 69 Great original and percussive power. 1800 Vince Hydrostat. xi. (1806) 114 The same body will always give the same tone, whether the percussive stroke be greater or less. 1857 H. Spencer Ess. I. 24 The first musical instruments were without doubt percussive. 1876 J. S. Bristowe Th. & Pract. Med. (1878) 415 The auscultatory and percussive phenomena..may differ little if at all from those which attend capillary bronchitis. 1882 Rep. to Ho. Repr. Prec. Met. U.S. 595 Percussive machinery that expends its force on metal. |
B. n. A musical instrument of percussion.
| 1890 in Cent. Dict. |
Hence perˈcussively adv., perˈcussiveness.
| 1863 A. M. Bell Princ. Speech 162 In upbraid, upborne, upmost,..&c.,..the P is a mere stop of the voice and loses its final percussiveness. 1890 Cent. Dict., Percussively. 1958 Times 9 Oct. 7/1 The tense percussiveness of Bartok's concerto. 1970 Daily Tel. 16 June 14/2 He lets unfold..a veritable rhapsody of percussiveness (by no means just Brahms's in E flat) and reveals the soul in staccato. 1976 Gramophone Sept. 424/1 Queffélec, however, never plays with the almost brutal percussiveness of Bernstein. |