Percussion

[Sarah]

1. Any instrument that is played by striking or hitting.
2. A section in a band or orchestra, in which the players strike the instrument to play it.
3. Not a drummer.

[Rihanna]

A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound by being struck with an implement, [shaken], rubbed, [scraped], or by any other action which sets the object into [vibration]. The term usually applies to an object used in a rhythmic context and/or with musical intent.

The word, percussion, has evolved from Latin terms: percussio (which translates as to beat, strike in the musical sense, rather than the violent action), and percussus (which is a noun meaning a beating). As a noun in contemporary English it is described at [Wiktionary] as the [collision] of two bodies to produce a sound. The usage of the term is not unique to music but has application in medicine and weaponry, as in percussion cap, but all known and common uses of the word, percussion, appear to share a similar [lineage] beginning with the original Latin: percussus. In a musical context then, the term percussion instruments may have been coined originally to describe a family of instruments including drums, [rattles], metal plates, or wooden blocks which musicians would beat or strike (as in a collision) to produce sound.

[Marquetta]

A family of instruments that either use their hands, or something else to play.
There are four types of Percussion instruments:
Mallets: Usually the well known Xylophone, [Marimba], [Vibraphone], Glockenspiel/Bells. The Chimes/Tubular Bells could also be in this category.
Drums: Snare Drum, Base Drum, Toms, Bongos, [Congas], Gongs, Drum Kit, Brake Drum, and many more that I dont know.
Auxiliary: Triangle, Shaker, Maracas, [Slap Stick], Temple Blocks, Wood Blocks, Claves, [Vibraslap], Crash Cymbals, Suspended Cymbal, Chains, [Sleigh Bells], and many, many more.
Then there is the [Timpani], which is in its own category.
Despite what other people say about us, we are just as important as other instruments. We can read notes, both Treble and Base Clef. For Marimba, we can read both at the same time in a Grand Staff. Percussion is the unique section that keeps the beat most of the time. If we were the bad people who ignore and annoy the conductor, I dont think wed exist. Some conductors are Percussionist themselves.
We do not always share the same instruments.
We do not just randomly hit stuff.
Timpani is the only instrument we have to worry about pitch.
Our Instruments have a certain spot where we have to hit. We call this the sweet spot.

[Cami]

Usually considered as the people [in the band] who cant play an instrument or read music. This group is the one that in the definition (band) usually loses their [virginity] first if they arent a [slob].

[Hina Muqadas]

a group in the band played by the people without [musical talent] who usually just sit there and talk to each other the whole class. they are the assholes who get [the conductor] mad all the time. annoys the hell out of the [trumpets] who sit right in front of them.

[Britney]

Musical instruments played by striking with the hand or with a stick or beater, or by shaking, including drums, cymbals, xylophones, gongs, bells, and rattles.

[Cami]

Usually [the section] that gets a [complement] from other band directors, always talking, and never know where they are [in the music].