How to Use tambourine in a Sentence

tambourine

noun
  • Not a tambourine, not a brief turn at the piano — nothing.
    — Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 23 Oct. 2025
  • Quick, someone fetch the tambourine!
    — Lily Goldberg, Pitchfork, 26 Feb. 2026
  • Imagine hearing a good jazz piece, and here comes the tambourine.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 11 June 2021
  • They were joined by union members playing drums and tambourines.
    — Katie Kilkenny, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 June 2023
  • The rattle is about the size of a tambourine, with a round frame of hemlock wood.
    — Alex Demarban, Anchorage Daily News, 30 June 2019
  • In their minds, the judges should've sent Gonzo the tambourine man home, instead.
    — Kayla Keegan, Good Housekeeping, 31 July 2019
  • Try to not put that onto the member who is beating the tambourine.
    — Annie Lane, oregonlive, 4 Mar. 2021
  • Wilson arrived on stage with a drink in one hand and a tambourine in the other.
    — Troy L. Smith, cleveland, 3 July 2022
  • Want to do no job whatsoever, but just sit on stumps and shake a tambourine?
    — Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 15 Apr. 2020
  • Toni Collette is still feeling the beat from that tambourine.
    — Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 8 Mar. 2025
  • Bands huddled in a circle that sing, tap on tambourines and bang drums to the rhythm of samba.
    — Luis Andres Henao, chicagotribune.com, 22 Oct. 2019
  • Ogilvie shook her tambourine and led the congregation in song.
    — Washington Post, 14 Aug. 2021
  • In other words, Doyle won’t hand us emotion dead on a plate, or even on a tambourine.
    — Jesse Green, New York Times, 30 Oct. 2022
  • By the song’s end, Carlisle had grabbed a tambourine and was shimmying along with the tune.
    — Annie Zaleski, Rolling Stone, 31 Oct. 2021
  • Carol is a skilled tambourine player.
    — Liza Esquibias, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 2025
  • The toddler can be seen hitting the tambourine as his famous parents cheer him on.
    — Liza Esquibias, Peoplemag, 27 Feb. 2024
  • And when Schultz threw his tambourine over his shoulder to wade into the crowd, there wasn’t even that.
    — Dylan Owens, The Know, 8 Aug. 2019
  • Many in the audience followed the tempo with tambourines, small drums or hand claps.
    — Robert McCoppin, courant.com, 22 June 2018
  • Chip even treated us to some slide whistle and tambourine action in an attempt to prove his rock star cred.
    — Taysha Murtaugh, Country Living, 4 Apr. 2018
  • Bands huddled in a circle that sing, tap on tambourines and bang drums to the rhythm of Samba.
    — Washington Post, 14 Oct. 2019
  • The tambourine, which taps its way through the take with relentless precision.
    — Randall Roberts, latimes.com, 11 June 2019
  • Doyle even manages the equivalent of a hat trick, when an actor plays a tambourine that, in turn, plays a plate.
    — Jesse Green, New York Times, 30 Oct. 2022
  • The group inched its way up Peachtree Street to a soundtrack of chants, kazoos and a tambourine.
    — Tamar Hallerman, ajc, 24 June 2021
  • The Jack bottle was an accessory, same as a mic or a tambourine.
    — Paul Daugherty, The Enquirer, 4 Nov. 2021
  • All things mini, from charcuterie boards to teacup-sized tambourines, are trending.
    — Kristen Kidd, Denver Post, 26 Nov. 2025
  • The one on the right warbles on a flute, the middle strums a guitar and the one on the left slowly taps away on a tambourine.
    — Ben Morse, CNN, 14 Sep. 2024
  • In a swift movement, Steve grabbed a tambourine that was nearby and began playing it.
    — Selena Barrientos, Good Housekeeping, 13 Nov. 2020
  • Each of the last two games, Brewers players have brought bongos and a tambourine into the dugout.
    — Jr Radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 21 Apr. 2018
  • There were accordions and tambourines, and a giant fir tree that, one year, toppled under its own weight.
    — Lizzie Johnson, New Yorker, 25 Apr. 2026
  • Daisy then stays for the rest of the Six's set, playing tambourine and providing back-up vocals.
    — Town & Country, 10 Mar. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tambourine.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: