drummyadj.
/ˈdrʌmi/, U.S. /ˈdrəmi/ 1.
a. Resembling or suggestive of a drum, esp. in sound; hollow (in various senses).With use in medical contexts (usually with reference to sounds heard in auscultation) cf. tympanitic adj.
ΚΠ
1648 J. Owen Salus Electorum To Rdr. sig. A6 Great swelling words of vanity, drummy expressions, a noise from emptinesse.
1765 London Mag. Aug. 422/2 Noisy, empty, drummy expressions, may for a while, deafen but cannot convince.
1825 D. Uwins Compend. Theoret. & Pract. Med. 151 Unfavourable Symptoms.—Much delirium..rapidity of pulse..a tense drummy feel of the abdomen [etc.].
1844 Metropolitan July 287 The hummy, drummy croaking of your toilet song.
1890 G. M. Fenn Double Knot I. Prol. iii. 49 [His] ribs..emitted a cavernous drummy sound.
1915 A. Miles in C. C. Choyce & J. M. Beattie Syst. Surg. (U.S. ed.) II. 496 The left side of the belly becomes prominent and yields a uniform drummy note on percussion.
1929 A. R. Nilson Radio up to Minute (rev. ed.) ix. 234 If the base notes are too heavily amplified the sounds will have a barrel-like or ‘drummy’ effect not altogether pleasing to listen to.
1992 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 16 Jan. 18 The cabin is quite comfortable and certainly isn't as noisy and ‘drummy’ as the old wagons of our youth.
b. Of earth, rock, etc.: hollow-sounding when tapped or trodden upon, frequently with the implication of being unsteady or unsafe. Now chiefly Australian.
ΚΠ
1839 Trans. Soc. Arts 52 176 The fen-land..lies dry (drummy).
1948 G. Farwell Down Argent Street 65 Drummy patch there. Want to watch that, son.
1960 Times 18 July 7/7 On ‘drummy’ ground the cattle will get frightened by the resonant tread of their own hoofs and may ‘take off’.
1991 Austral. Financial Rev. (Nexis) 2 Oct. 40 Tapping the columns revealed that much of the scagliola was ‘drummy’ and was no longer securely attached.
2005 D. Lewis & L. Simmons Kajirri i. 44 There were many anthills and areas of ‘drummy’ ground.
2. Characterized by the playing of a drum or drums; in which drumming features prominently.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > repeated sound or succession of sounds > [adjective] > regular or alternating rhythm > drumming
drumming1582
drumbling1630
drummy1831
trampling1841
1831 Spectator 29 Jan. 115/2 An overture of Marschner's was tried; but it was too drummy and trumpety for our liking.
1833 M. Scott Tom Cringle's Log I. xi. 353 A tolerably good band, a little too drummy.
1869 Guardian 26 May 587/1 The orchestral accompaniment, though brassy and drummy and coarse to the last degree, has a wonderful go about it.
1920 Kansas City (Missouri) Times 5 Oct. 3/3 The song was a drummy, hummy marching little thing, ‘Little Girls, Goodby’.
1997 Independent (Nexis) 25 July 16 It's not a drummy, bangy kind of piece, it's a gamelan kind of piece.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1648