Phrase guide

drum machine

noun · 1 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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  • General-American: /ˈdɹʌm məˌʃin/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈdɹʌm məˌʃiːn/
  • rhymes with -iːn

1

noun

Meaning 1

An electronic musical instrument that can be programmed to create percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: rhythm box

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From drum + machine.

Across languages

Translations

21 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: آلَة طُبُول — device
  • Catalan: caixa de ritmes — device
  • Dutch: drumcomputer — device
  • Esperanto: drumomaŝino — device
  • Esperanto: tamburmaŝino — device
  • Finnish: rumpukone — device
  • French: boîte à rythmes — device
  • German: Drumcomputer — device
  • Hebrew: מְכוֹנַת תֻּפִּים (mekhonát tupím) — device
  • Irish: meaisín drumadóireachta — device
  • Japanese: ドラムマシン (doramumashin) — device
  • Korean: 드럼 머신 (deureom meosin) — device
  • Polish: automat perkusyjny — device
  • Portuguese: caixa de ritmos — device
  • Portuguese: máquina de ritmos — device
  • Russian: драм-маши́на (dram-mašína) — device
  • Spanish: caja de ritmos — device
  • Spanish: caja rítmica — device
  • Swedish: trummaskin — device
  • Turkish: davul makinesi — device
  • Ukrainian: драм-маши́на (dram-mašýna) — device