drum
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈdɹʌm/
rhymes: -ʌm
Forms: form: drums
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”).
Senses: examples: text: He's playing the piano and she's playing the drums!
text: In the Province of Xenſi, near the City Vucung, is a Hill called Taipe, which if a Drum be beaten upon it, preſently followeth Thunder, Lightning, and ſtormy weather, inſomuch that the Magiſtrates have forbidden all perſons upon pain of death to beat any Drum there.
ref: 1669, John Nievhoff, “Of ſome THINGS more then NATURAL, and ſtrange POOLS.”, in John Ogilby, transl., An Embassy from the Eaſt-India Company of the United Provinces, to the Grand Tartar Cham Emperour of China, London: John Macock, →OCLC, page 273:
text: The group played huge drums placed overhead, along with flutes and a kotolike zither.
ref: 2008 January 15, Jon Pareles, “To See (and Hear) the World in Five Hours: Unique Sounds Ripe for Import”, in The New York Times:
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
synonyms: word: skins
hypernyms: percussion instrument
glosses: A percussive musical instrument spanned with a thin covering on at least one end for striking, forming an acoustic chamber; a membranophone.
examples: text: Replace the drum unit of your printer.
glosses: Any similar hollow, cylindrical object.
examples: text: The restaurant ordered ketchup in 50-gallon drums.
glosses: A barrel or large cylindrical container for liquid transport and storage.
glosses: Synonym of construction barrel.
synonyms: word: construction barrel
topics: architecture
glosses: The encircling wall that supports a dome or cupola.
topics: architecture
glosses: Any of the cylindrical blocks that make up the shaft of a pillar.
glosses: A drumfish (family Sciaenidae).
examples: text: ‘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.’
ref: 1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber and Faber, published 2003, page 258:
glosses: A tip; a piece of information.
topics: boxing
government
hobbies
lifestyle
martial-arts
military
politics
sports
war
glosses: The ear.
Derived terms: bang on the drum
bang the drum
bang the drum for
barrel drum
bass drum
beat like a jungle drum
beat the drum
beat the drum for
bedrum
big drum
black drum
bongo drum
brake drum
cable drum
chalice drum
cocktail drum
concert bass drum
conga drum
conical drum
double conical drum
double-conical drum
dram major
drum and bass
drumbeat
drumbeater
drumbeating
drum belly
drum brake
drum cadence
drum-dried
drumette
drum fill
drumfire
drumfish
drumful
drumfunk
drumhead
drum head
drum-head court
drum horse
drum kit
drumless
drumlike
drumline
drum machine
drum magazine
drum major
drum majorette
drummie
drummist
drummy
drum 'n' bass
drumology
drum roll
drum set
drumskin
drumstep
drumstick
drum stick
drum talk
drum tower
ear drum
eardrum
footed drum
frame drum
freshwater drum
friction drum
frog drum
furling drum
goblet drum
hand drum
horn drum
hourglass drum
kettledrum
kettle drum
kickdrum
kick drum
Lambeg drum
long drum
march to a different drum
march to one's own drum
march to the beat of a different drum
march to the beat of one's own drum
mud drum
nanodrum
ngoma drum
oil drum
on the drum
pellet drum
red drum
redrum
rollerdrum
side drum
skull drum
slit drum
snare drum
sound the drum
steam drum
steel drum
storm drum
talking drum
tenor drum
thunder-drum
tight as a drum
tom-tom drum
tongue drum
tubular drum
waisted drum
war drum
water drum
Related terms: percussion