thrum Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a thrumming sound
    • he could hear the thrum of a banjo
  2. verb sound with a monotonous hum
    hum.
  3. verb sound the strings of (a string instrument)
    strum.
    • strum a guitar
  4. verb make a rhythmic sound
    beat; drum.
    • Rain drummed against the windshield
    • The drums beat all night

WordNet

Thrum noun
Etymology
OE. thrum, throm; akin to OD. drom, D. dreum, G. trumm, lump, end, fragment, OHG. drum end, Icel. römr edge, brim, and L. terminus a limit, term. Cf. Term.
Definitions
  1. One of the ends of weaver's threads; hence, any soft, short threads or tufts resembling these.
  2. Any coarse yarn; an unraveled strand of rope.
  3. (Bot.) A threadlike part of a flower; a stamen.
  4. (Mining) A shove out of place; a small displacement or fault along a seam.
  5. (Naut.) A mat made of canvas and tufts of yarn.
Thrum transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Thrummed ; present participle & verbal noun Thrumming
Definitions
  1. To furnish with thrums; to insert tufts in; to fringe.
    Are we born to thrum caps or pick straw? Quarles.
  2. (Naut.) To insert short pieces of rope-yarn or spun yarn in; as, to thrum a piece of canvas, or a mat, thus making a rough or tufted surface. Totten.
Thrum intransitive verb
Etymology
CF. Icel. ruma to rattle, to thunder, and E. drum.
Definitions
  1. To play rudely or monotonously on a stringed instrument with the fingers; to strum.
  2. Hence, to make a monotonous drumming noise; as, to thrum on a table.
Thrum transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To play, as a stringed instrument, in a rude or monotonous manner.
  2. Hence, to drum on; to strike in a monotonous manner; to thrum the table.

Webster 1913