drums

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of drum.

   The drums set the rhythm for the entire marching band.

   He stacked the empty oil drums against the warehouse wall.

   Note

   A regular plural that spans very different objects: the instruments of a band, oil barrels in a warehouse, the stacked blocks of a pillar's shaft, and the walls that carry domes. In US usage it can also mean construction barrels. The same spelling serves the verb in "the rain drums", so context decides. A determiner or number, as in the drums or two drums, marks the noun.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of drum.

   The rain drums steadily against the tin roof all afternoon.

   He drums the beat for the band every Friday night.

   Note

   The verb's range shows best in what does the drumming: a drummer drums, rain drums on a roof, a heart drums, an animal drums, and a teacher drums lessons into students. A campaigner drums for votes or customers, and that use always takes for. Only he, she, it and singular nouns take this form. I, you, we and they simply drum.

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