drub

[ druhb ]
See synonyms for: drubdrubbeddrubbing on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),drubbed, drub·bing.
  1. to beat with a stick or the like; cudgel; flog; thrash.

  2. to defeat decisively, as in a game or contest.

  1. to drive as if by flogging: Latin grammar was drubbed into their heads.

  2. to stamp (the feet).

noun
  1. a blow with a stick or the like.

Origin of drub

1
1625–35; perhaps by uncertain mediation <Arabic ḍarb blow, beating

Other words from drub

  • drubber, noun
  • un·drubbed, adjective

Words Nearby drub

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use drub in a sentence

  • Jack, life is a great schoolmaster, but why does it take so long to drub any sense into these blockheads of ours?

    The Dreamer | Mary Newton Stanard
  • In the midst of his reflections the drub of the muffled telephone beat its insistent tattoo.

    The Man in the Twilight | Ridgwell Cullum
  • On the other hand, we extend the meaning of drub, the Arabic word for bastinado, to a beating of any kind.

  • Also, to beat or drub a person, a sense known to Shakspeare as well as to seamen.

    The Sailor's Word-Book | William Henry Smyth
  • And as for the men, what could they think, when the preacher could drub any six of them?

    The Maid of Sker | Richard Doddridge Blackmore

British Dictionary definitions for drub

drub

/ (drʌb) /


verbdrubs, drubbing or drubbed (tr)
  1. to beat as with a stick; cudgel; club

  2. to defeat utterly, as in a contest

  1. to drum or stamp (the feet)

  2. to instil with force or repetition: the master drubbed Latin into the boys

noun
  1. a blow, as from a stick

Origin of drub

1
C17: probably from Arabic dáraba to beat

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