drum out
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Related to drummed out: drummed up
drum out
1. To beat the rhythm of something, such as a song, so that someone can learn it. A noun or pronoun can be used between "drum" and "out." Drum it out again, and I'll try to play along this time. I drummed out a pattern on the counter while waiting for the bank teller to process my transaction. Would you quit drumming out that beat on my back? Gosh, you're so annoying!
2. To oust someone publicly, often amid scandal. A noun or pronoun can be used between "drum" and "out." The CEO was drummed out once the papers started reporting on his embezzlement of company funds. Word of my affair cannot get out, or they'll drum me right out of this campaign. Please, the newspapers in this town have tried to drum me out for less. I'll be fine.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
drum something out
to beat a rhythm, loudly and clearly, as if teaching it to someone. Drum the rhythm out before you try to sing this song. Drum out the rhythm first.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
drum out
Expel or dismiss publicly and in disgrace, as in They drummed him out of the club. This usage, which alludes to dismissal from a military service to the beat of a drum, began to be applied to civilian expulsions in the mid-1700s.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.