percussion

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
percussion/pəˈkʌʃn/

▶noun

• 1 the action of playing a musical instrument by striking or shaking it.

  ■ [as modifier] denoting musical instruments played in this way.

  ■ percussion instruments forming a band or section of an orchestra.

• 2 the striking of one solid object with or against another with some degree of force.

• 3 Medicine the action of percussing a part of the body.

– derivatives
percussionist noun,
percussive adjective,
percussively adverb,
percussiveness noun.