DRUM | Meaning In The Cambridge English Dictionary

Meaning of drum in English drumnoun [ C ] uk /drʌm/ us /drʌm/

drum noun [C] (INSTRUMENT)

Add to word list Add to word list A2 a musical instrument, especially one made from a skin stretched over the end of a hollow tube or bowl, played by hitting with the hand or a stick: a bass/snare/kettle drumbeat of a drum They danced to the beat of the drums (= sound of the drums being hit). See also bass drum kettledrum side drum snare drum steel drum   adventtr/iStock/Getty Images Plus/GettyImages

• He beat out a jazz rhythm on the drums.
• The drums and double bass usually form the rhythm section of a jazz group.
• The drums rolled as the acrobat walked along the tightrope.
• Beat the drum.
• a drum roll

Musical instruments

• accordion
• acoustic guitar
• acoustically
• aeolian harp
• aerophone
• double bass
• double bassoon
• double reed
• double-stop
• double-tongue
• metallophone
• metronome
• monophonic
• monophonically
• mouth harp
• tam-tam
• tambourine
• tenor flute
• tenor saxophone
• theremin

See more results »

drum noun [C] (CONTAINER)

a large tube-like container: an oil drum a five-gallon plastic drumdrum of a drum of radioactive waste   adventtr/iStock/Getty Images Plus/GettyImages the hollow metal cylinder in a washing machine into which clothes and other things are put for washing General and miscellaneous containers

• Ball jar
• bin
• bindle
• biscuit tin
• caddy
• geocache
• gift box
• ginger jar
• grain bin
• gunnysack
• paintbox
• pallet
• picnic basket
• piggy bank
• planter
• urn
• vivarium
• workbasket
• workbox
• wormery

See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Kitchen appliances

Idiom

bang/beat the drum drumverb [ I or T ] uk /drʌm/ us /drʌm/ -mm- to hit a surface regularly and make a sound like a drum, or to make something do this: drum something on something She drummed her fingers impatiently on the table.drum on The rain drummed loudly on the roof. Hitting and beating

• at-risk
• bang away phrasal verb
• bang someone up phrasal verb
• basher
• bashing
• hammer
• hell
• jab someone in something
• jab something at someone
• jab something into something
• karate chop
• mess
• punch
• stroke
• swing at someone phrasal verb
• swing for someone phrasal verb
• tan someone's hide idiom
• tapping
• tar
• tonk

See more results »

Phrasal verbs

drum something into someone drum someone out of something drum something up (Definition of drum from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

drum | American Dictionary

drumnoun [ C ] us /drʌm/

drum noun [C] (INSTRUMENT)

Add to word list Add to word list a musical instrument, usually with a skin stretched over the end of a hollow tube or bowl, played by hitting with the hand or a stick

drum noun [C] (CONTAINER)

a large, cylindrical container usually used for storing liquids: an oil drum drumverb [ I ] us /drʌm/ -mm-

drum verb [I] (INSTRUMENT)

to make a rhythmic sound by hitting repeatedly: The rain drummed on the tin roof.

Phrasal verbs

drum something into someone drum someone out of something drum up something (Definition of drum from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

drum | Business English

drumnoun [ C ] uk /drʌm/ us Add to word list Add to word list TRANSPORT a large container used for storing liquids such as oil and chemicals: 3000 drums of lethal chemicals have been dumped in the sea. He will collect 60 to 70 pounds of honey from his 1,500 hives and sell it in 55-gallon drums. (Definition of drum from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of drum

drum Here, in the underworld, the spring weather was eternal, and everywhere was the captivating reverberation of drums, a sign of constant celebration and happiness. From the Cambridge English Corpus On the building site, the drums are cut to length and then erected. From the Cambridge English Corpus The drums, however, being the prerogative of the military were only played by men. From the Cambridge English Corpus There are other signs on the last two drums of rushing to finish quickly. From the Cambridge English Corpus The soil was sterilized with equipment constructed from two metal drums joined with a plastic hose; steam was generated using firewood collected locally. From the Cambridge English Corpus Long-standing conventions governed associations between instrument types and particular settings: trumpets and drums evoked warfare, flutes divinities, oboes the pastoral. From the Cambridge English Corpus Then one of them actually danced in a frenzied state on glowing cinders, accompanied by drums. From the Cambridge English Corpus There was a guy sitting on the ground playing classical music on a keyboard, and another guy further down the platform playing drums. From the Cambridge English Corpus The drums are the most frequently mentioned instrument in jazz songs, and this emphasises the centrality of 'noise' in descriptions of jazz. From the Cambridge English Corpus The deep, relatively simple bass line reinforces and stabilises the more detailed drums. From the Cambridge English Corpus The rhythm guitar plays a flamenco-like rhythm, simultaneously referencing the mock high seriousness and the drumming feet of the flamenco dancer. From the Cambridge English Corpus I tried to do that on a set of drums. From the Cambridge English Corpus Fuel drums were stockpiled in several areas around the perimeter of the station. From the Cambridge English Corpus The turnover of fuel at this site is such that most drums would not be present for more than one or two seasons. From the Cambridge English Corpus In fact, we will be forced to view the drums as playing in half-time throughout the entire song. From the Cambridge English Corpus See all examples of drum These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with drum

drum

These are words often used in combination with drum.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

conga drumHe invented and patented the tunable conga drum (earlier drums had nailed heads) which revolutionized use of the instrument. From Wikipedia This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.   drum circleHe is seen by many as the person who conceived and developed the idea of the facilitated community drum circle. From Wikipedia This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.   drum corpsAround this time, drum corps began experimenting with marching timpani as well as duo and tri toms. From Wikipedia This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.   These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. See all collocations with drum What is the pronunciation of drum?

Translations of drum

in Chinese (Traditional) 樂器, 鼓, 容器… See more in Chinese (Simplified) 乐器, 鼓, 容器… See more in Spanish tambor, bidón, tamborear… See more in Portuguese tambor, tocar tambor, batucar… See more in Marathi in Japanese in Turkish in French in Catalan in Dutch in Tamil in Hindi in Gujarati in Danish in Swedish in Malay in German in Norwegian in Urdu in Ukrainian in Telugu in Bengali in Czech in Indonesian in Thai in Vietnamese in Polish in Korean in Italian ढोल… See more ドラム, たいこ, ドラム缶… See more davul, trampet, dümbelek… See more tambour [masculine], tambour, tonneau… See more timbal, bidó, tamborinar… See more trom, ton, trommelvlies… See more ஒரு இசைக்கருவி, குறிப்பாக ஒரு வெற்றுக் குழாய் அல்லது கிண்ணத்தின் முனையில் நீட்டப்பட்ட தோலிலிருந்து தயாரிக்கப்பட்ட ஒன்று, கை அல்லது குச்சியால் அடிப்பதன் மூலம் இசைக்கப்படுகிறது… See more ड्रम, ढोल, नगाड़ा… See more ઢોલ… See more tromme, tromle, tønde… See more trumma, trum[hinna], slå på trumma… See more dram, tong, gegendang… See more die Trommel, trommelförmiger Behälter, das Trommelfell… See more tromme [masculine], tromme, trommel… See more نقارہ, ڈھول… See more барабан, циліндр, барабанна перетинка… See more సంగీత వాయిద్యం, ముఖ్యంగా డ్రమ్, డోలు వంటి వాయిద్యం… See more ড্রাম, ঢাক, তালবাদ্য… See more buben, barel, bubínek (ušní)… See more genderang, drum, gendangan telinga… See more กลอง, ที่มีลักษณะคล้ายกลอง, เยื่อแก้วหู… See more cái trống, đồ vật có hình dáng giống cái trống, màng nhĩ… See more bęben, beczka, bębnić… See more 드럼, 드럼통, 계속 두드리다… See more tamburo, fusto, tamburellare… See more Need a translator?

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drugstore druid druidic druidism drum drum and bass drum and bugle corps drum brake BETA drum circle {{#randomImageQuizHook.filename}} {{#randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes Try a quiz now {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{^randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.filename}}

More meanings of drum

• bongo (drum)
• drum kit
• red drum
• bass drum
• kick drum
• side drum
• bongo

See all meanings

• drum something into someone phrasal verb
• drum someone out of something phrasal verb
• drum up something phrasal verb
• drum up sth phrasal verb
• drum something up phrasal verb

See all phrasal verb meanings

• bang/beat the drum idiom

Word of the Day

(don't) beat yourself up

to hurt someone badly by hitting or kicking them repeatedly

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• English   
  • Noun 
    • drum (INSTRUMENT)
    • drum (CONTAINER)
  Verb
• American   
  • Noun 
    • drum (INSTRUMENT)
    • drum (CONTAINER)
  • Verb 
    • drum (INSTRUMENT)
• Business   Noun
• Examples
• Collocations

• Translations
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