Drum, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Drummed p. pr. & vb. n. Drumming.]
  1. To beat a drum with sticks; to beat or play a tune on a drum.
  2. To beat with the fingers, as with drumsticks; to beat with a rapid succession of strokes; to make a noise like that of a beaten drum; as, the ruffed grouse drums with his wings.
     Drumming with his fingers on the arm of his chair.   --W. Irving.
  3. To throb, as the heart. [R.]
  4. To go about, as a drummer does, to gather recruits, to draw or secure partisans, customers, etc,; -- with for.
  drum
       n 1: a musical percussion instrument; usually consists of a
            hollow cylinder with a membrane stretch across each end
            [syn: membranophone, tympan]
       2: the sound of a drum; "he could hear the drums before he
          heard the fifes"
       3: a bulging cylindrical shape; hollow with flat ends [syn: barrel]
       4: a cylindrical metal container used for shipping or storage
          of liquids [syn: metal drum]
       5: a hollow cast-iron cylinder attached to the wheel that forms
          part of the brakes [syn: brake drum]
       6: small to medium-sized bottom-dwelling food and game fishes
          of shallow coastal and fresh waters that make a drumming
          noise [syn: drumfish]
       v 1: make a rhythmic sound; "Rain drummed against the
            windshield"; "The drums beat all night" [syn: beat, thrum]
       2: play a percussion instrument
       3: study intensively, as before an exam; "I had to bone up on
          my Latin verbs before the final exam" [syn: cram, grind
          away, bone up, swot, get up, mug up, swot up, bone]
       [also: drumming, drummed]