drub
Americanverb (used with object)
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to beat with a stick or the like; cudgel; flog; thrash.
-
to defeat decisively, as in a game or contest.
-
to drive as if by flogging.
Latin grammar was drubbed into their heads.
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to stamp (the feet).
noun
verb
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to beat as with a stick; cudgel; club
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to defeat utterly, as in a contest
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to drum or stamp (the feet)
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to instil with force or repetition
the master drubbed Latin into the boys
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of drub
1625–35; perhaps by uncertain mediation < Arabic ḍarb blow, beating
Vocabulary lists containing drub
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:
Bass bounded into office in 2022, buoyed by a broad coalition and Democratic wall of support that helped her drub billionaire mall mogul Rick Caruso, despite Caruso massively outspending her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2025
Bass took advantage of the new political landscape to drub her rival, notching a nearly 10-percentage-point margin.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 25, 2022
On March 2, Le Batard began the local hour with a lengthy investigation into how the Los Angeles Lakers managed to drub the Miami Heat the night before, putting up 131 points.
From Slate ● Apr. 13, 2018
After all, the rule of thumb for a century has been drub the bums and play .500 against top teams.
From Washington Post ● May 30, 2016
At least they'll drub 'em weel, I dinnot fear, An' keep 'em fairly off frae landin' here.
From Yorkshire Dialect Poems (1673-1915) and traditional poems by Frederic William Moorman
Others have had their moments: Fellow debutants Curacao scored against Germany - despite being drubbed - Jordan pushed Austria for long periods and DR Congo held Portugal.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
Those moves happened while the Rangers were in the midst of getting drubbed 6-3 by the division rival Capitals, with the background distractions creeping into New York’s play.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 25, 2023
Six weeks ago, Gentry could only hop into the USC huddle on one leg, helpless as its defense was drubbed by Utah.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 27, 2022
The two have met twice this century, both in Fiesta Bowls, both occasions for Notre Dame to wind up drubbed.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 15, 2022
At first he did not hear her, but she drubbed upon the fence with the toes of her shoes.
From The Corner House Girls Among the Gypsies How They Met, What Happened, and How It Ended by Grace Brooks Hill
The building exterior has taken an almost universal drubbing; it looks like a refrigerator that dropped off the Death Star.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
From the World Cup win at Lord's in 2017 to last year's Ashes drubbing down under.
From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer promised on Saturday he would "listen to voters" after his Labour party received a historic drubbing in local and regional elections.
From Barron's ● May 9, 2026
Instead, they got the experimental “All Shook Up,” which has aged well despite the critical drubbing it received at the time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026
He slept curled around the rusty nail, wind and rain drubbing his tired young body.
From "Abel's Island" by William Steig
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
