drum up

verb

drummed up; drumming up; drums up
Synonyms of drum upnext

transitive verb

1
: to bring about by persistent effort
drum up some business
2
: invent, originate
drum up a new method

Synonyms

See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of drum up in a Sentence

anyone who drums up a better way of doing this tedious task will make a fortune
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The rescue recently posted about the pup on Facebook in hopes of drumming up more adoption interest. — Kelli Bender, People.com, 20 Mar. 2025 Now, five Japanese players are set to headline Major League Baseball’s season opener in Tokyo on Tuesday in a contest between the Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs meant to drum up interest in MLB abroad. — Kimmy Yam, NBC News, 15 Mar. 2025 The physical effort and visible progress of a training cycle keep the fundraising team motivated to keep drumming up donations. — Outside Online, 11 Mar. 2025 Pro football was struggling to build an audience, so George Halas, Red Grange and the Bears went on a 19-game, 66-day barnstorming tour to drum up interest during the winter of 1925. — Marianne Mather, Chicago Tribune, 6 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for drum up

Word History

First Known Use

1830, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of drum up was in 1830

Rhymes for drum up

See All Rhymes for drum up

Browse Nearby Words

drum up
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Drum up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/drum%20up. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.

Copy Citation

Share

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Words You Always Have to Look Up
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Top 10 Sophisticated Insults

Flower Etymologies For Your Spring Garden

More Words with Remarkable Origins

Terroir, Oenophile, & Magnum: Ten Words About Wine

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments
See More

Popular Features

See More

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Top 10 Sophisticated Insults

Flower Etymologies For Your Spring Garden
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
dog-in-disguise
Rhyme Disguise Quiz Pair up words that look different but sound alike.
See All