as in to devise
to create or think of by clever use of the imagination
anyone who drums up a better way of doing this tedious task will make a fortune
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Recent Examples of drum up
The ad, which cost $221,000 according to filings, may have been a back-door effort to drum up GOP support, betting that getting Pratt into the next round with Bass could give her an easier path to victory in the general election.
—
Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 22 May 2026
The question of whether foul play is involved remains open, as Grisebach is not one to drum up hysteria or tension.
—Sophie Monks Kaufman, IndieWire, 22 May 2026
One industry insider takes an optimistic view, suggesting that multimillion-dollar prediction markets could help drum up excitement and ratings.
—Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 22 May 2026
For three years, Lim ran a company called Floodify, which at its peak operated 65,000 dummy social-media accounts used to drum up attention on behalf of paying clients.
—Lane Brown, Vulture, 15 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for drum up
Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 22 May 2026
The question of whether foul play is involved remains open, as Grisebach is not one to drum up hysteria or tension.
—Sophie Monks Kaufman, IndieWire, 22 May 2026
One industry insider takes an optimistic view, suggesting that multimillion-dollar prediction markets could help drum up excitement and ratings.
—Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 22 May 2026
For three years, Lim ran a company called Floodify, which at its peak operated 65,000 dummy social-media accounts used to drum up attention on behalf of paying clients.
—Lane Brown, Vulture, 15 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for drum up
Recent Examples of Synonyms for drum up
Verb
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The commonly mistaken base assumption is that the greatest minds that have devised AI and consumed so much money doing so must certainly know every iota of how AI works.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2026
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Building on a concept devised by the director and producer Pierre-Henri Léon, Santiago Otheguy’s script plays fast and loose with Bizet’s opera and the Prosper Mérimée novella that inspired it — to the point of inventing an entirely new protagonist.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
31 May 2026
Verb
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The Sagamore was reduced to ashes twice before its final form was constructed in the 1920s (hopefully the third time’s a charm).—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
3 June 2026
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Lore has it that Shuffletown Grill’s building was constructed by the Rozzelle family, who settled in the area in the 1780s and operated the ferry that Rozzelle’s Ferry Road was named after.—
Heidi Finley,
Charlotte Observer,
3 June 2026
Verb
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Lukehart dumped Gabrielle's body in a local pond and concocted a story to trick police, court records show.—
Amanda Lee Myers,
USA Today,
1 June 2026
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With the trend away from toxic chemical control of plant pests and diseases, treatment formulas concocted from benign household products are on the rise.—
Joshua Siskin,
Oc Register,
28 May 2026
Verb
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And while Louis and Molloy are mostly absent from the source material, Jones and the writers’ room invented new story lines for them, sometimes repurposing plot points from future Vampire Chronicles entries.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
2 June 2026
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Leach helped invent the pass-happy system with Hal Mumme and then perfected it.—
Ralph D. Russo,
New York Times,
2 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Drum up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/drum%20up. Accessed 4 Jun. 2026.
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