drum

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
drum1

▶noun

• 1 a percussion instrument sounded by being struck with sticks or the hands, typically cylindrical, barrel-shaped, or bowl-shaped with a taut membrane over one or both ends.

  ■ a sound made by or resembling that of a drum.

• 2 a cylindrical object or part, especially a container: an oil drum.

  ■ Architecture the circular vertical wall supporting a dome.

• 3 historical a military drummer.

• 4 Brit. informal a house or flat.

  ■ Austral./NZ informal a brothel.

• 5 a tea party of a kind popular in the late 18th and early 19th century.

• 6 Austral./NZ informal a piece of reliable inside information.

▶verb (drums, drumming, drummed)

• 1 play on a drum.

  ■ make a continuous rhythmic noise.

• 2 (drum something into) drive a lesson into (someone) by constant repetition.

• 3 (drum someone out) expel or dismiss someone with ignominy.

• 4 (drum something up) attempt to obtain something by canvassing or soliciting: they drummed up support.

– phrases
beat (or bang) the drum of (or for) be ostentatiously in support of.

– origin ME: from MDu. or Low Ger. tromme, of imitative origin.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
drum2 (also drumfish)

▶noun (pl. same or drums) a coastal or estuarine fish that makes a drumming sound by vibrating its swim bladder. [Family Sciaenidae: many species.]