drumbeat

American

[druhm-beet] / ˈdrʌmˌbit /

noun

the rhythmic sound of a drum.

drumbeat British

/ ˈdrʌmˌbiːt /

noun

the sound made by beating a drum

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of drumbeat

First recorded in 1850–55; drum ¹ + beat

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

drumbeat

Ben McMillan, CIO at IDX Advisors, said he has been keeping a close eye on polls at the national and local level as the drumbeat of anti-data-center rhetoric has picked up.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2026

Another wild keyboard run was part of “Snakes For Dinner,” as Sanders led the crowd to clap along to Dailor’s thunderous drumbeat.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026

In the last week or so there has been a steady drumbeat of newsflow about the imminence of Anthropic’s IPO.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 28, 2026

The drumbeat of developments pushing against an eventual deal underscores the deep mistrust between Israel and Hamas and is worrying mediators.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

I strode faster now, pounding the wooden planks like a drumbeat.

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023