drum up
Britishverb
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Bring about by persistent effort, as in I'm trying to drum up more customers , or We have to drum up support for this amendment . This expression alludes to making repeated drumbeats. [Mid-1800s]
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Devise, invent, obtain, as in He hoped to drum up an alibi . [Mid-1800s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The airline for years stuck with a one-size-fits-all approach that fell out of sync with competitors, which dove deeper into tiered fares and charging for different services as a way to drum up more profits.
From MarketWatch
Rodríguez also travelled to China, Vietnam and Spain trying to drum up support.
From BBC
Still, the brothers drummed up enough interest to take their toes on the road, spreading their theory in a multicity speaking tour.
From Literature
For years, Southwest stuck with a one-size-fits-all approach that fell out of sync with competitors, who went deeper into tiered fares and charging for different services as a way to drum up more profits.
From MarketWatch
Most company insiders tasked with drumming up new potential uses and products use a coded version to maintain the secrecy.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
