drub

Meanings

Noun

• carbonaceous shale; small coal; slate, dross, or rubbish in coal.

Verb

• To beat (someone or something) with a stick.
• To defeat someone soundly; to annihilate or crush.
• To forcefully teach something.
• To criticize harshly; to excoriate.

Origin

• From Middle English *drob, drof, from Old English *drōb, drōf, from Proto-Germanic *drōbuz.
• 1625, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from ضَرَبَ, or perhaps originally from a dialectal word (Kent) drab, variant of drop, dryp, drib, from Middle English drepen (preterit drop, drap, drape “to strike, kill”) from Old English drepan, from Proto-Germanic *drepaną ("to beat, bump, strike, slay"), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreb-. Akin to Old Frisian drop ("a blow, beat"), Old High German treffan ("to hit"), Old Norse drepa ("to strike, slay, kill"). Compare also dub. More at drape.