drumming up

verb

present participle of drum up
as in devising
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of drumming up The Chicago school board voted to add two questions to the November ballot gauging whether city voters would support drumming up new revenue for Chicago Public Schools. — Kate Armanini, Chicago Tribune, 13 Aug. 2026 Both candidates spent the post-primary period drumming up support ahead of the Democrats’ gathering in San Diego. — Ben Paviour, Sacbee.com, 2 Aug. 2026 After gracing Vanity Fair in recent weeks, while at the same time drumming up a firestorm with his comments about past racial tensions in Oxford hampering some recruiting, Kiffin obviously showed a lighter side. — Trey Wallace Outkick, FOXNews.com, 26 May 2026 That’s also drumming up the perception that the Fed is leaning toward lowering rates, which the three Fed presidents who dissented are firmly against. — Bryan Mena, CNN Money, 1 May 2026 The 24 staff members in Ruiz Verduzco’s office are tasked with assisting victims and their families, establishing programs in communities destroyed by violence and drumming up financial support. — Molly Quell, Los Angeles Times, 28 Apr. 2026 While the younger Lloyd went on to unlike the post, Hughes still saw it and reposted it to his own socials, drumming up even more discussion about whether the Wildcats head coach already knows his future, regardless of how the season ends. — Tyler Erzberger, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Mar. 2026 Union officials also held a rally outside district offices Tuesday afternoon, drumming up support for their cause ahead of the school board’s meeting. — Kyle Martin, Mercury News, 10 Mar. 2026 Pre-seeding While EMV levels may cool off quickly in the months following a launch, brands are increasingly drumming up pre-launch interest by teasing newness and seeding products to creators, in some cases, months in advance. — Noor Lobad, Footwear News, 27 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for drumming up
  1. devising
  2. concocting
  3. constructing
  4. inventing
Verb
  • Now, researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have thwarted that tyranny even more profoundly, by devising an ultra-fast way to steer light, using light itself as the steering wheel.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Now Iran’s hardline leadership is devising and promoting its own strategy for continued confrontation with Washington.
    — Tim Lister, CNN Money, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of devising
Verb
  • Ghost also accused Wilson and her PR team of concocting a smear campaign against her.
    — Leigh Blickley, Entertainment Weekly, 22 July 2026
  • And she’s spent a decade scaling her brand into an industry disrupter; Ellsworth began concocting prebiotic drinks in 2015, founding her business just one year later.
    — Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 11 May 2026
Definition of concocting
Verb
  • Better access began not with constructing another clinic or hiring an entirely new workforce, but with examining how existing capacity was used.
    — Eugene Litvak, Fortune, 15 Aug. 2026
  • Isolating each peak required constructing a very specific function that, when multiplied by the original fractal-like function, would pull out just the peak and be close to zero everywhere else.
    — Shalma Wegsman, Quanta Magazine, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of constructing
Verb
  • His great-great-grandfather, Antonio Cansino, was widely credited with inventing modern-day Spanish dance.
    — Hannah Vanbiber, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Whether inventing the Bong-a-Tron or freeing themselves after hours trapped inside a Party City parking lot, these misadventures almost always hinge on weed.
    — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of inventing

Browse Nearby Words

drumming (out)
drumming up
drum (out)
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Drumming up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/drumming%20up. Accessed 23 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of prowess

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

How to Pronounce the Trickiest Menu Items

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Aug. 21

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
alt-684346df967d5
Add A Letter Quiz Pick the letter that goes in the same spot in fou...
See All