A noisemaker is any device designed to create loud or festive sounds, especially during celebrations. At a New Year's Eve party, you might blow into a paper noisemaker that unfurls with a honking sound, or spin a wooden ratchet that produces rapid clicking. Birthday parties often feature plastic horns and metal clappers that help everyone join in the excitement.

While some noisemakers serve practical purposes (like a referee's whistle or a ship's foghorn warning of danger), most are meant for pure celebration. Sports fans bring noisemakers to stadiums to cheer their teams. Ancient cultures used drums, bells, and rattles as noisemakers during festivals and ceremonies.

You could technically call a crying baby or a barking dog a noisemaker, but the word usually means an object specifically designed to be loud. When your little sister bangs pots and pans together in the kitchen, she's turned ordinary cookware into noisemakers, creating a racket that makes everyone cover their ears.