The parchment or skin stretched over one end of a drum.
2.
The top of a capstan which is pierced with sockets for levers used in turning it.
Drumhead court-martial (Mil.), a summary court-martial called to try offenses on the battlefield or the line of march, when, sometimes, a drumhead has to do service as a writing table.
... time they needed for a drumhead court-martial. After that, if he was lucky, he would be shot instead of being hung. But he is ready, you see. It is his part. Oh, we Russians are all united now, if we never were before! Germany has threatened us for years. She has ... — The Boy Scouts In Russia • John Blaine
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