drum(1) (iou) and set-to (oh)

drum noun1. LME.
[Prob. from Middle Dutch, Low German tromme of imit. origin. Cf. DRUMSLADE.]
I.
An instrument of Music or communication sounded by striking and made of a pliable membrane stretched taut over the open end of a hollow cylinder or hemisphere or over a thin hoop; a percussion instrument consisting of some form of hollow body but without a membrane. LME.
bass drum, kettledrum, side drum, snare drum, tenor drum, etc. beat the drum(s), beat the big drum(s), thump the drum(s), thump the big drum(s) make loud or ostentatious advertisement or protest.
Longfellow Our hearts.., like muffled drums, are beating Funeral marches to the grave. Scientific American Such percussion instruments as steel drums and hollow-log drums.
b. The body of a banjo. L19.
a. Military. A drummer. Formerly also, a man or a small party sent with a drum as a messenger to an enemy. E16.
b. In pl. The percussion section or drum kit of a pop, rock, or jazz group. E20.
The sound of the instrument; a noise like that of a drum. M17.
O. Henry The soft drum of the ponies' hoofs.
b. Any fish of the percoid family Sciaenidae, found mainly in shallow sea and able to make a drumming noise; a croaker. M17.
red drum: see RED adjective.
Hist. Orig., an evening party or assembly. Later, a tea party, esp. when joined by more guests after the meal. M18.
the drum, the facts; reliable or inside information. Austral. slang. E20.
II. Something likened to a drum in shape or function.
The tympanic membrane, the eardrum. Formerly also, the middle ear. E17.
A cylindrical appliance or part of a machine; spec. a cylinder round which a rope, belt, etc., passes. E18.
brake drum: see BRAKE noun7.
b. (The contents of) the cartridge-holding part of a machine-gun. L19.
c. Computing. More fully magnetic drum. A data-storage device in the form of a rotatable cylinder with a magnetizable outer surface. M20.
Architecture. The solid part of a Corinthian or Composite capital; one of the cylindrical blocks forming the shaft of a column; the vertical wall supporting a dome. E18.
A cylindrical container for packing dried fruit, holding oil, etc. L18.
b. The bundle of a tramp, miner, etc., a swag. Austral. & NZ slang. M19.
c. A tin in which tea etc. is made, a billycan. slang. M20.
Zoology. An organ which produces or amplifies the natural sound of certain animals. E19.
A cylinder hoisted (together with a cone) by coastguards etc. to give warning of a strong gale. M19.
Comb.: drum and bass a type of Dance Music characterized by bare instrumentation consisting largely of electronic drums and bass, originating in Britain during the early 1990s; drum-and-trumpet history: see HISTORY noun; drumbeat a beat on a drum; drum brake: in which brake shoes on the vehicle press against a brake drum on the wheel; drumfire heavy continuous rapid artillery fire; fig. a barrage of criticism etc.; drum-fish noun & verb (a) noun = sense 3b above; (b) verb intrans. (US) fish for drum-fish; drum-kit: see KIT noun1 2d; drum-machine an electronic device that imitates the sound of percussion instruments; drum major (a) the chief drummer of a regimental band; (b) arch. an NCO in command of the drummers of a regimental band; (c) the leader of a marching band; drum majorette (orig. US) a female leader of a marching band; a girl who leads or takes part in a parade etc. twirling a baton; drum pad an electronic device with one or more flat pads which imitate the sounds of a drum kit when struck; drum printer: in which the paper is hammered against a drum with as many circular bands of types on it as there are printing positions on a line; drum roll a rapid succession of notes sounded on a drum; drum tower: of cylindrical, usu. squat form, as at the angle of a castle wall.
drummy adjective like the sound of a drum; characterized by a drum: M19.
drumster noun (rare) a drummer L16-M19.

set-to (oh)

n [C usually singular] informal
a short fight or quarrel
-synonym argument argument
::Tom and I had a bit of a set-to last night.
-see also set to at set 1

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