Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🥁 Rapid drumbeats ⏩ Quick series 🥁 To play drumbeats
drumroll

drumroll

10 3.3
A fast series of drum beats to build excitement before an announcement
  • noun
  • /ˈdrʌmˌroʊl/
: redoble
  • It is time now—drumroll, trumpets, etc.—to announce the winners of the 2012 Eater Awards.
  • drumroll, please

Examples

  • "That's what the tribunal is trying to establish," said Bel, as thunderous drumrolls sounded through the court, signaling the formal start of proceedings.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • "Shall we have a drumroll, shall we blow the trumpet, and pipe a ditty on the flute?" Marion teases—she is heading home, or as close to home as she can get.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • In the middle of the party, there was a drumroll.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • We are going to pick a winner and that winner is drumroll, please, a vlog.

  • "He paused as though waiting for a drumroll."

    Fiction book (1991)

  • And a drumroll, please.

    Cats (2019)

  • All of a sudden, there's a blackout and a drumroll.

    Behind the Burly Q (2010)

  • A drumroll and a flourish of atonal trumpets...

    Fiction book (1996)

  • As I walked away, I heard Mrs. Schwartz's stilettos clicking over the floor behind me, building in rhythm like a drumroll, chasing me out the door and to my car in the student parking lot.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • Before revealing the winner of the contest, the host asked for a drumroll to heighten the suspense.

Synonyms

drum roll
vsdrumroll
15 3.1

A quick, continuous beat on a drum that builds suspense before an important moment

has identical meaning but is written as one word
drumbeat
vsdrumroll
12 1.6

A repeated sound made by hitting a drum

is specific to rapid beats used to build suspense before announcements
roll
vsdrumroll
4 2.7

A long deep sound from drums or thunder

is narrower referring to rapid beats that create excitement before events

How Long

drumroll
10 3.3
drumbeat
12 1.6

Surface Forms

drumroll singular
drumrolls plural

Morphology

drumroll = drum + roll (transparent) = drum + roll

Direct compound of 'drum' + 'roll' meaning a series of drum beats; the components and resulting meaning are obvious.

Etymology

Drumroll comes from the simple parts drum + roll, where a 'roll' is a fast, continuous sound that seems to move like a wheel. So, a drumroll is a quick series of drumbeats that builds excitement.