drumbeat

noun

drum·​beat ˈdrəm-ˌbēt 

1

: a stroke on a drum or its sound

also : a series of such strokes

2

: vociferous advocacy of a cause

3

: drumfire sense 2

drumbeater

ˈdrəm-ˌbē-tər 

noun

drumbeating

ˈdrəm-ˌbē-tiŋ 

noun

Synonyms

• barrage
• flurry

Examples of drumbeat in a Sentence

I could hear the drumbeat of a parade down the street.

a dizzying drumbeat of interviews in the hours following her winning of the Academy Award

Recent Examples on the Web

Martha Stewart, Cyndi Lauper and Christina Hendricks watched on as an unexpected guest − a homeless man walking to the show's drumbeat and dangling a cap from his hand − marched down the gravel runway. —Anika Reed, USA Today, 18 Sep. 2025

And now that Survivor 50 has already been cast and filmed, that drumbeat is almost deafening. —Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 18 Sep. 2025

But in recent years, acts of brazen violence have been the grim drumbeat of a debased national politics. —Eric Cortellessa, Time, 11 Sep. 2025

Since then, there’s been a steady drumbeat of anti-DEI statements from the administration and its supporters. —Deborah Widiss, The Conversation, 8 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1817, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for drumbeat

• amit
• athlete
• backseat
• blackfeet
• broadsheet
• browbeat
• buckwheat
• compete
• compleat
• complete
• conceit
• concrete

Kids Definition

drumbeat

noun

drum·​beat ˈdrəm-ˌbēt 

: a stroke on a drum or its sound