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

The drumbeat of allegations has dented Reform’s credibility as a potential ruling party.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 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 recent examples of AI models going rogue is teaching us humans that these cutting-edge tools are willing to go surprisingly far to achieve a goal—even if it means breaking a few rules.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

Breakdance posse The Rock Steady Crew are introduced with a blast of the Apache drumbeat.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

Congo was a woman in shadows, dark-hearted, moving to a drumbeat.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

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