From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdrumdrum1 /drʌm/ ●●● S3 noun [countable] 1 APMa musical instrument made of skin stretched over a circular frame, played by hitting it with your hand or a stick a big bass drum 1,000 people marched, beating drums and carrying flags.on drums Trumpeter Red Rodney was playing with Kenny Clarke on drums (=playing the drums). Jones played the drums in an all-girl band.2 TCONTAIN/HOLDa large round container for storing liquids such as oil, chemicals etc a 5-gallon oil drum3 Tsomething that looks like a drum, especially part of a machine a brake drum4 → bang/beat the drum for somebody/something5 → the drum of something → eardrum
Examples from the Corpus
drum• The rear brake drums on the car need replacing.• Place on the cake drum next to the paintbox.• a 50-gallon drum of paint thinner• An oil drum was kicked away, rolling and crashing into the wall beside her.• The equipment used is much the same; the same drum machines as then.• One beat on an hourglass-shaped drum, while the other clashed large cymbals.• a snare drum• I rotated the nails so that a cheese paring of wax was scoured from the surface of the drum.• Faster and faster spun the wheels of light, and the throbbing of the drums accelerated with them.• The cap is retained in the unit and used to reseal the drum.played the drums• Joe Donald played the drums and William and Nellie Addison who were brother and sister played violin and piano.drumdrum2 verb (drummed, drumming) 1 [intransitive]APM to play a drum2 [intransitive, transitive]CHIT to make a sound similar to a drum by hitting a surface again and again I could hear the rain drumming against the windows. Lisa drummed her fingers impatiently on the table.3 → drum something home → drum something into somebody → drum somebody out of something → drum something ↔ up→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
drum• He drums his fingers on the chairback as he passes.• Rain drummed on the windows.• He could hear her drumming the desktop with her fingers, waiting for him to put the cover on the typewriter.• He hopes to drum up the support of sympathetic congressmen who blame the law for high fares.drummed ... fingers• Harrison drummed his fingers impatiently against the surface of the table.• She pulled up her nightgown and drummed her fingers on her swollen belly.• Bowman drummed his fingers on the console.• I drummed my fingers on the desktop.• Mulcahey drummed his fingers on the table, tat-tat, tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat-tat.• Herr Nordern gulped his beer and drummed his fingers on the table.• Venner grinned amiably around whilst Clinton, as cool as ever, drummed his fingers soundlessly on the table top.From Longman Business Dictionarydrumdrum1 /drʌm/ noun [countable] a large round container for storing liquids such as oil, chemicals etca stack of oil drumsdrumdrum2 verb (drummed, drumming) → drum something → up→ See Verb tableOrigin drum1 (1500-1600) Probably from Dutch trom 