Standard Lemma guide

drub

noun · verb · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /dɹʌb/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Ireland, Northern-England: /dɹʊb/
  • rhymes with -ʌb
  • CMU ARPABET: D R AH1 B Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Carbonaceous shale; small coal; slate, dross, or rubbish in coal.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Northern-England, dialectal, uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To beat (someone or something) with a stick.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

To defeat someone soundly; to annihilate or crush.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

To forcefully teach something.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

verb

Meaning 5

To criticize harshly; to excoriate.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

verb

Meaning 6

beat thoroughly and conclusively in a competition or fight

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • We licked the other team on Sunday!

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cream, bat, clobber, thrash, lick

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: beat, beat out, crush, shell, trounce, vanquish

History

Etymology

From Middle English *drob, drof, from Old English *drōb, drōf (“turbid; dreggy; dirty”), from Proto-West Germanic *drōbī, from Proto-Germanic *drōbuz (“turbid”).

1625, of uncertain origin: * Perhaps from Arabic ضَرَبَ (ḍaraba, “to beat, hit”), * or perhaps originally from a dialectal word (Kent) drab, variant of drop, dryp, drib (“to beat”), from Middle English drepen (preterit drop, drap, drape (“struck, killed”)) from Old English drepan (“to strike”), from Proto-West Germanic *drepan, from Proto-Germanic *drepaną (“to beat, bump, strike, slay”), from Proto-Indo-European *dhreb(h)- (“to strike, crush, kill”). * Linguist Guus Kroonen suggests that it reflects the Proto-Germanic verb *drubbōną, iterative to *drabaną (“to hit, hew”), as found in Norwegian drubba (“to fall over”). Akin to Old Frisian drop (“a blow, beat”), Old High German treffan (“to hit”), Old Norse drepa (“to strike, slay, kill”). Compare also dub. More at drape.

Across languages

Translations

19 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: ضَرَبَ (ḍaraba) — to beat with a stick
  • Danish: banke — to beat with a stick
  • Danish: prygle — to beat with a stick
  • Danish: tæske — to beat with a stick
  • Esperanto: bastoni — to beat with a stick
  • French: bâtonner — to beat with a stick
  • French: fustiger — to beat with a stick
  • German: prügeln — to beat with a stick
  • Irish: greasáil — to beat with a stick
  • Irish: gread — to beat with a stick
  • Italian: bastonare — to beat with a stick
  • Italian: fustigare — to beat with a stick
  • Latin: battuo — to beat with a stick
  • Latin: fustigo — to beat with a stick
  • Norman: quétilyi — to beat with a stick
  • Norwegian Bokmål: pryle — to beat with a stick
  • Norwegian Bokmål: drepe — to beat with a stick
  • Russian: колоти́ть (kolotítʹ) — to beat with a stick
  • Swedish: prygla — to beat with a stick