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DRUM
drum, drumfish
(noun) small to medium-sized bottom-dwelling food and game fishes of shallow coastal and fresh waters that make a drumming noise
drum, membranophone, tympan
(noun) a musical percussion instrument; usually consists of a hollow cylinder with a membrane stretched across each end
drum, metal drum
(noun) a cylindrical metal container used for shipping or storage of liquids
drum
(noun) the sound of a drum; “he could hear the drums before he heard the fifes”
barrel, drum
(noun) a bulging cylindrical shape; hollow with flat ends
cram, grind away, drum, bone up, swot, get up, mug up, swot up, bone
(verb) study intensively, as before an exam; “I had to bone up on my Latin verbs before the final exam”
drum
(verb) play a percussion instrument
drum, beat, thrum
(verb) make a rhythmic sound; “Rain drummed against the windshield”; “The drums beat all night”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology 1
Noun
drum (plural drums)
A percussive musical instrument spanned with a thin covering on at least one end for striking, forming an acoustic chamber, affecting what materials are used to make it; a membranophone.
Hypernym: percussion instrument
Any similar hollow, cylindrical object.
A barrel or large cylindrical container for liquid transport and storage.
(obsolete or historical) A social gathering or assembly held in the evening.
(architecture) The encircling wall that supports a dome or cupola.
(architecture) Any of the cylindrical blocks that make up the shaft of a pillar.
A drumfish (family Sciaenidae).
(slang, UK) A person's home.
(AU slang) A tip; a piece of information.
Usage notes
When used in the plural, "drums" or "the drums" often specifically means a drum kit as used for contemporary styles such as rock or jazz; a classical percussionist would be very unlikely to say that they "play the drums" on a piece, even if the only parts they play are, indeed, drums (as opposed to marimba or xylophone or similar.)
Verb
drum (third-person singular simple present drums, present participle drumming, simple past and past participle drummed)
(intransitive) To beat a drum.
(ambitransitive) To beat with a rapid succession of strokes.
(transitive) To drill or review in an attempt to establish memorization.
To throb, as the heart.
To go about, as a drummer does, to gather recruits, to draw or secure partisans, customers, etc.; used with for.
Etymology 2
Noun
drum (plural drums)
A small hill or ridge of hills.
Usage notes
• Mainly encountered in place names, such as Drumglass and Drumsheugh.
Etymology
Proper noun
Drum (plural Drums)
A surname.
Statistics
• According to the 2010 United States Census, Drum is the 7459th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 4468 individuals. Drum is most common among White (91.61%) individuals.
Source: Wiktionary
Drum, n. Etym: [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.]
1. (Mus.)
Definition: 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. The drums cry bud-a-dub. Gascoigne.
2. 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. (c) (Anat.) The tympanum of the ear; -- often, but incorrectly, applied to the tympanic membrane. (d) (Arch.)
Definition: One of the cylindrical, or nearly cylindrical, blocks, of which the shaft of a column is composed; also, a vertical wall, whether circular or polygonal in plan, carrying a cupola or dome. (e) (Mach.)
Definition: A cylinder on a revolving shaft, generally for the purpose of driving several pulleys, by means of belts or straps passing around its periphery; also, the barrel of a hoisting machine, on which the rope or chain is wound.
3. (Zoöl.)
Definition: See Drumfish.
4. A noisy, tumultuous assembly of fashionable people at a private house; a rout. [Archaic] Not unaptly styled a drum, from the noise and emptiness of the entertainment. Smollett.
Note: There were also drum major, rout, tempest, and hurricane, differing only in degrees of multitude and uproar, as the significant name of each declares.
5. A tea party; a kettledrum. G. Eliot. Bass drum. See in the Vocabulary.
– Double drum. See under Double.
Drum, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Drummed; p. pr. & vb. n. Drumming.]
1. To beat a drum with sticks; to beat or play a tune on a drum.
2. 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. Drumming with his fingers on the arm of his chair. W. Irving.
3. To throb, as the heart. [R.] Dryden.
4. To go about, as a drummer does, to gather recruits, to draw or secure partisans, customers, etc,; -- with for.
Drum, v. t.
1. To execute on a drum, as a tune.
2. (With out) To expel ignominiously, with beat of drum; as, to drum out a deserter or rogue from a camp, etc.
3. (With up) To assemble by, or as by, beat of drum; to collect; to gather or draw by solicitation; as, to drum up recruits; to drum up customers.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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22 January 2025
MEGALITH
(noun) memorial consisting of a very large stone forming part of a prehistoric structure (especially in western Europe)
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