as in devising
to create or think of by clever use of the imagination
anyone who drums up a better way of doing this tedious task will make a fortune
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Recent Examples of drumming up
While the younger Lloyd went on to unlike the post, Hughes still saw it and reposted it to his own socials, drumming up even more discussion about whether the Wildcats head coach already knows his future, regardless of how the season ends.
—
Tyler Erzberger, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Mar. 2026
Union officials also held a rally outside district offices Tuesday afternoon, drumming up support for their cause ahead of the school board’s meeting.
—Kyle Martin, Mercury News, 10 Mar. 2026
Pre-seeding While EMV levels may cool off quickly in the months following a launch, brands are increasingly drumming up pre-launch interest by teasing newness and seeding products to creators, in some cases, months in advance.
—Noor Lobad, Footwear News, 27 Feb. 2026
Chalamet was vital in drumming up the momentum for the original film, which remained a theatrical draw due to rave reviews and stellar word of mouth.
—Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 8 Feb. 2026
While the Indiana University football team prepares for Monday's College Football Playoff national championship game, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra is drumming up support this weekend on social media.
—Domenica Bongiovanni, IndyStar, 17 Jan. 2026
Perhaps the only thing capable of drumming up a Bardian level of attention would be for a famous person—probably Julia Fox—walking the red carpet in nothing but a pair of Pleasers.
—Daniel Rodgers, Vogue, 28 Dec. 2025
Intel, the once-dominant chipmaker, is in a fight for its life that requires it to aggressively move into leading-edge chips, including those optimized for AI, while drumming up the funding to float that expensive transition.
—Alyson Shontell, Fortune, 8 Oct. 2025
Meanwhile, as China faces its own challenges at home, where the ruling Communist Party is grappling with a slowing economy and persistent unemployment, some observers wonder whether drumming up nationalism as a distraction strategy could push China into an even more aggressive stance.
—Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 6 Sep. 2025
Tyler Erzberger, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Mar. 2026
Union officials also held a rally outside district offices Tuesday afternoon, drumming up support for their cause ahead of the school board’s meeting.
—Kyle Martin, Mercury News, 10 Mar. 2026
Pre-seeding While EMV levels may cool off quickly in the months following a launch, brands are increasingly drumming up pre-launch interest by teasing newness and seeding products to creators, in some cases, months in advance.
—Noor Lobad, Footwear News, 27 Feb. 2026
Chalamet was vital in drumming up the momentum for the original film, which remained a theatrical draw due to rave reviews and stellar word of mouth.
—Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 8 Feb. 2026
While the Indiana University football team prepares for Monday's College Football Playoff national championship game, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra is drumming up support this weekend on social media.
—Domenica Bongiovanni, IndyStar, 17 Jan. 2026
Perhaps the only thing capable of drumming up a Bardian level of attention would be for a famous person—probably Julia Fox—walking the red carpet in nothing but a pair of Pleasers.
—Daniel Rodgers, Vogue, 28 Dec. 2025
Intel, the once-dominant chipmaker, is in a fight for its life that requires it to aggressively move into leading-edge chips, including those optimized for AI, while drumming up the funding to float that expensive transition.
—Alyson Shontell, Fortune, 8 Oct. 2025
Meanwhile, as China faces its own challenges at home, where the ruling Communist Party is grappling with a slowing economy and persistent unemployment, some observers wonder whether drumming up nationalism as a distraction strategy could push China into an even more aggressive stance.
—Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 6 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for drumming up
Verb
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The Fed traditionally steers clear of political whims when devising monetary policy in part to maintain credibility.—
Tristan Bove,
Fortune,
28 Apr. 2026
-
This was a period when literary critics had real power and were devising new ways of reading—focused on the fluidity of language and the instability of textual meaning—that reshaped the humanities and social sciences.—
Charlie Tyson,
The Atlantic,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
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According to the report, workers illegally pocketed between $20,000 and more than $41,000 in Paycheck Protection Program loans from a massive federal COVID-19 pandemic relief effort – some by concocting companies that didn't exist to pocket federal assistance funds.—
Chris Tye,
CBS News,
15 Apr. 2026
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As Gyllenhaal begins concocting her third directorial feature, could Curtis be part of the picture?—
Antonio Ferme,
Variety,
6 Mar. 2026
Verb
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To overcome these limitations, researchers propose constructing a continuous field of local reference frames guided by surface geometry and keypoints.—
Jijo Malayil,
Interesting Engineering,
22 Apr. 2026
-
Soft robotics, a subfield of robotics that says robots can be squishy, focuses on constructing robots from highly flexible, deformable materials and systems.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
22 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Made in response to a difficult breakup, the work alludes to two lovers parting ways, but also to Pau’s memories of isolation as a severely asthmatic child in a notoriously polluted city, lying in bed staring at the wall and inventing stories to distract herself from the difficulty of breathing.—
Pauline J. Yao,
Artforum,
2 May 2026
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Groups of researchers in California, Germany, and now France have been inventing ways to shrink the whole spectroscopy system onto a chip, so scientists can take the instrument into the field.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
30 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Drumming up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/drumming%20up. Accessed 3 May. 2026.
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