thunder stick

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thunder stick, bull roarer, whizzer (Ger. Schwirrholz, ‘whirlingwood’; Fr. planchette ronflante, ‘roaring board’). Instr. in use among Amer. Indians, Australian aborigines, natives of Central Africa, etc. A thin, flat piece of wood, swung to produce a whirring noise, rising or falling in pitch with changing speed of motion.