Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - tambour

 I. noun  Etymology: Middle French, drum, from Arabic ?anbur, modification of Persian tabir  Date: 15th century  1. drum I,1  2.  a. an embroidery frame; especially a set of two interlocking hoops between which cloth is stretched before stitching  b. embroidery made on a ~ frame  3. a shallow metallic cup or drum with a thin elastic membrane supporting a writing lever used to transmit and register slight motions (as arterial pulsations)  4. a rolling top or front (as of a rolltop desk) of narrow strips of wood glued on canvas  II. verb  Date: 1774  transitive verb to embroider (cloth) with ~  intransitive verb to work at a ~ frame  • ~er noun