thrum

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“
At the "thrum-thrum" on the harp-strings, which wound up the song, frenzied shouts were raised for a repetition.

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Definitions (39)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (11)

  1. transitive verb Music To play (a stringed instrument) idly or monotonously: thrummed a guitar.
  2. transitive verb To speak, repeat, or recite in a monotonous tone of voice; drone.
  3. intransitive verb Music To strum idly on a stringed instrument.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (20)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (4)

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Examples (50)

  • A woman's scream, outside, cut off in mid-thrum, followed by a sickening thud and footsteps. —  F ;SF; - vol 088 issue 06 - June 1995
  • And he made sure he moved close to every single mirror in the house—feeling for the thrum, she realized. —  Memory of Fire by Holly Lisle
  • The whole time I kept my ears pricked for the thrum of engines winding up the ridge from Scary. —  F ;SF; - vol 098 issue 01 - January 2000
  • Thrum-thrum went the ship from floor, walls and ceiling. —  Galaxy October, 1952
  • I remember, one morning, as he was in this situation, thrum, thrum, thrum, (moving his fingers as if beating on the harpsichord,) striking out something prodigiously great, as he thought,—'Hah!' —  Memoirs of the Life of the Rt. Hon. Richard Brinsley Sheridan V1
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Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

whir ·  droning ·  rumble ·  tinkle ·  drumbeat ·  purr ·  whoosh ·  throb ·  jangle ·  clop ·  clank ·  thunk

Used in the same contextWord Family

thrum:   thrumming

Etymologies (7)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. Imitative.
  2. Middle English, from Old English -thrum, ligament (of the tongue) (in tungethrum, ligament of the tongue).

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (5)

  1. Early modern English also thrumb, thrumme; from Middle English thrum, thrumm, a thrum (not found in Anglo-Saxon), = Dutch drom = Old High German Middle High German drum, German trumm (in the plural trümmer) = Icelandic thrömr (thram-) = Norwegian trom, tram, trumm, edge, brim, = Swedish dial. tromm, trom, trumm, stump, end of a log (see tram); prob. connected with L. terminus, Greek τέρμα, term, end, boundary: see tram and term.
  2. Early modern English also thrumb, thrumme; from thrum, n.
  3. from Icelandic thruma, rattle, thunder (cf. thruma, a clap of thunder; thrymr, alarm, noise), = Swedish trumma = Danish tromme, beat. drum: see drum and trump.
  4. from thrum, v.
  5. Middle English, also throm, *thrym, from Anglo-Saxon thrymm, power, glory.
 

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