drub
Americanverb (used with object)
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to beat with a stick or the like; cudgel; flog; thrash.
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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
It seemed as though even Fate's bludgeonings couldn't drub impulse out of her.
From Shadows of Flames A Novel by Amélie Rives
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
They will be playing a Thunder team that drubbed them in the regular season, including a 43-point stomping just last month.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2026
Like Gasol, Parker was won over by the 1992 Summer Olympics, when the Hall of Famer-laden Americans drubbed the French national by 50 points.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 12, 2023
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
Oh, please, Mrs. Tabitha," he pleaded, "you've drubbed him enough.
From Tabitha's Vacation by Ruth Alberta Brown
The drubbing also raised questions about the government's record.
From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026
Once he shook off a 36-point drubbing, though, Golesh saw his own future.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
The implosion of a team during the 5-0 Ashes drubbing in 2013-14, and the rebuild to regain the urn in 2015 - the last time England beat Australia.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 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.
