drumbeat

Everyday

1. The sound of a drum being hit, or a steady rhythm of such sounds. tree →
2. A steady, repeated message or warning that keeps coming, like «a drumbeat of bad news». tree →

In the lessons

In music lessons the drumbeat keeps the rhythm and the beat; in history, drumbeats led soldiers marching; in stories it builds tension; in news it means something repeated again and again; phrases: «a steady drumbeat», «the drumbeat of war».

Examples

• The band marched to a steady drumbeat. tree →
• I could feel the drumbeat in my chest. tree →
• We clapped along to the drumbeat. tree →
• The soldiers moved in time with the drumbeat. tree →
• Far away in the jungle, a drumbeat began. tree →
• There was a constant drumbeat of complaints about the noise. tree →
• Then the drumbeats subsided and faintly marked the rhythm of the singing. tree →

Note

One word: drumbeat. Countable. In music, count the drumbeats: «1, 2, 3, 4» in 4/4 time.