drum
/ˈdɹʌm/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms drums drumming drummed
- noun (music) A percussive musical instrument spanned with a thin covering on at least one end for striking, forming an acoustic chamber; a membranophone. “He's playing the piano and she's playing the drums!”
- noun Any similar hollow, cylindrical object. “Replace the drum unit of your printer.”
- noun A barrel or large cylindrical container for liquid transport and storage. “The restaurant ordered ketchup in 50-gallon drums.”
- noun (US) Synonym of construction barrel.
- noun (architecture) The encircling wall that supports a dome or cupola.
- noun (architecture) Any of the cylindrical blocks that make up the shaft of a pillar.
- noun A drumfish (family Sciaenidae).
- noun (Australia slang) A tip; a piece of information.
- verb (intransitive) To beat a drum.
- verb (ambitransitive) To beat with a rapid succession of strokes. “The ruffed grouse drums with his wings.”
- verb (transitive) To drill or review in an attempt to establish memorization. “He’s still trying to drum Spanish verb conjugations into my head.”
- verb To throb, as the heart.
- verb To go about, as a drummer does, to gather recruits, to draw or secure partisans, customers, etc.; used with for.
- verb Of various animals, to make a vocalisation or mechanical sound that resembles drumming.
- noun (now rare) A small hill or ridge of hills.
- noun (now historical) A social gathering or assembly held in the evening. “Another misfortune which befel poor Sophia, was the company of Lord Fellamar, whom she met at the opera, and who attended her to the drum.”
- noun (slang, chiefly UK) A person's home; a house or other building, especially when insalubrious; a tavern, a brothel.
- noun (informal) A drumstick (of chicken, turkey, etc).
- proper noun A surname.
- proper noun A settlement (Mains of Drum) in Aberdeenshire council area, Scotland, near Drum Castle (OS grid ref NO8099).
Synonyms
skins construction barrel membranophone tympan barrel metal drum brake drum drumfish beat thrum cram grind away bone up swot get up mug up swot up bone
Etymology
Perhaps back-formation from drumslade (“drummer”), from Middle Dutch trommelslach (“drumbeat”), from trommel (“drum”) + slach (“beat”) (Dutch slag).
Or perhaps borrowed directly from a continental Germanic language; compare Middle Dutch tromme (“drum”), Middle Low German trumme (“drum”) et al. Compare also Middle High German trumme, trumbe (“drum”), Old High German trumba (“trumpet”). Compare Ancient Greek τῠ́μπᾰνον (tŭ́mpănon, “kettledrum”) whence Modern English timbre.
From Irish druim, Scottish Gaelic druim (“back, ridge”).
Unknown.
Shortening.
Webster’s 1913
- noun An instrument of percussion, consisting either of a hollow cylinder, over each end of which is stretched a piece of skin or vellum, to be beaten with a stick; or of a metallic hemisphere (kettledrum) with a single piece of skin to be so beaten; the common instrument for marking time in martial music; one of the pair of tympani in an orchestra, or cavalry band.
- noun Anything resembling a drum in form; as: (a) A sheet iron radiator, often in the shape of a drum, for warming an apartment by means of heat received from a stovepipe, or a cylindrical receiver for steam, etc. (b) A small cylindrical box in which figs, etc., are packed.
- verb To beat a drum with sticks; to beat or play a tune on a drum.
- verb To beat with the fingers, as with drumsticks; to beat with a rapid succession of strokes; to make a noise like that of a beaten drum; as, the ruffed grouse drums with his wings.
Etymology [Cf. D. trom, trommel, LG. trumme, G. trommel, Dan. tromme, Sw. trumma, OHG. trumba a trumpet, Icel. pruma a clap of thunder, and as a verb, to thunder, Dan. drum a booming sound, drumme to boom; prob. partly at least of imitative origin; perh. akin to E. trum, or trumpet.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “drum”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details