To play the tom-tom (pair of drums).

plural of tom-tom

present participle of tom-tom

simple past tense and past participle of tom-tom

A small joined pair of drums, beaten with the hands. / (usually as a pair) Any cylindrical drum, with no snare; part of a drum kit. / Alternative form of tam-tam (“a kind of flat gong”)

(Britain, greengrocers' slang) A tomato (the fruit).

(Cockney rhyming slang) jewellery

(intransitive, derogatory, of a black person) To act in an obsequiously servile manner toward white authority.

(nautical) To dig out a hole below the hatch cover of a bulker and fill it with cargo or weights to aid stability.

A diminutive of the male given name Thomas, also used as a formal male given name. / A nickname for a common man.