What does "drum" mean?
A percussive musical instrument spanned with a thin covering on at least one end for striking, forming an acoustic chamber; a membranophone.
Drum
/ˈdɹʌm/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A percussive musical instrument spanned with a thin covering on at least one end for striking, forming an acoustic chamber; a membranophone.
- Grammar: drum is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: barrel, membranophone, barrage, barrel.
- Useful contrasts: disregard, ignore, mute.
- Usage evidence: Tom has been beating the drum for the project.
How to use "drum"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "drum" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "drum" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "drum" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "drum" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "drum" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "barrel" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "drum", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 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!"
- 2 A small hill or ridge of hills. archaic
- 3 A social gathering or assembly held in the evening. historical
"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."
- 4 A drumstick (of chicken, turkey, etc). informal
"Add, thinly sliced, 1/2 to 1 onion and 2 cloves of garlic also sliced, your choice of protein – chicken or turkey breast, or low fat beef, veal, lamb or pork, cut in pieces, or skinless chicken drums, and probably a little water. Then add 1/2 a cup of ..."
- 5 small to medium-sized bottom-dwelling food and game fishes of shallow coastal and fresh waters that make a drumming noise wordnet
Show 14 more definitions
- 6 Any similar hollow, cylindrical object.
"Replace the drum unit of your printer."
- 7 A person's home; a house or other building, especially when insalubrious; a tavern, a brothel. UK, slang
- 8 a hollow cast iron cylinder attached to the wheel that forms part of the brakes wordnet
- 9 A barrel or large cylindrical container for liquid transport and storage.
"The restaurant ordered ketchup in 50-gallon drums."
- 10 a musical percussion instrument; usually consists of a hollow cylinder with a membrane stretched across each end wordnet
- 11 Synonym of construction barrel. US
- 12 a cylindrical metal container, commonly used for shipping or storage of liquids wordnet
- 13 The encircling wall that supports a dome or cupola.
- 14 the sound of a drum wordnet
- 15 Any of the cylindrical blocks that make up the shaft of a pillar.
- 16 a bulging cylindrical shape; hollow with flat ends wordnet
- 17 A drumfish (family Sciaenidae).
- 18 A tip; a piece of information. Australia, slang
"‘he is the darndest little speaker we got, so better sit there and listen to him while he gives you the drum and if you clean out your earholes you might get a bit of sense into your heads.’"
- 19 The ear. obsolete, slang
Verb
- 1 To beat a drum. intransitive
- 2 study intensively, as before an exam wordnet
- 3 To beat with a rapid succession of strokes. ambitransitive
"The ruffed grouse drums with his wings."
- 4 play a percussion instrument wordnet
- 5 To drill or review in an attempt to establish memorization. transitive
"He’s still trying to drum Spanish verb conjugations into my head."
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 make a rhythmic sound wordnet
- 7 To throb, as the heart.
"Now, heart, […]thou shalt drum no more."
- 8 To go about, as a drummer does, to gather recruits, to draw or secure partisans, customers, etc.; used with for.
- 9 Of various animals, to make a vocalisation or mechanical sound that resembles drumming.
""There is the snipe drumming also. We shall have it fine!" he added, with an air of conviction."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname. countable, uncountable
- 2 A settlement (Mains of Drum) in Aberdeenshire council area, Scotland, near Drum Castle (OS grid ref NO8099). countable, uncountable
- 3 A mountain in Conwy borough county borough, Wales (OS grid ref SH7069). countable, uncountable
- 4 A village in County Monaghan, Ireland. countable, uncountable
- 5 A civil parish and townland in County Roscommon, Ireland. countable, uncountable
Show 1 more definition
- 6 An unincorporated community in Bollinger County, Missouri, USA, named after the Drum family. countable, uncountable
Example
"Tom has been beating the drum for the project."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "drum"?
Common synonyms include: barrel, membranophone, barrage, barrel, beat, beat.
How do you use "drum" in a sentence?
Tom has been beating the drum for the project.
How do you pronounce "drum"?
Pronounced /ˈdɹʌm/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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”).
Etymology 2
From Irish druim, Scottish Gaelic druim (“back, ridge”).
Etymology 3
Unknown.
Etymology 4
Shortening.
Etymology 5
* As an Irish surname, from Droma, a personal name from druim (“ridge”) * As a Scottish Gaelic surname, from druim (“ridge”) * As a German surname, from Middle High German trum and Middle Low German drum (“woodblock”), both probably from Proto-Germanic *trumaz.