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
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/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
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