To drub means to beat someone thoroughly in a competition or fight. When one team drubs another in basketball, they dominate so completely that the final score looks lopsided, like 78 to 34. When a chess champion drubs an opponent, she wins so decisively that the match seems almost effortless.

The word carries a sense of overwhelming victory. If you barely squeak past someone in a race, you didn't drub them. But if you finish a full minute ahead while they're still struggling toward the finish line, that's a drubbing.

Historically, drub also meant to beat someone physically with a stick or club, though this older meaning is less common today. The competitive sense keeps that feeling of decisive, one-sided defeat. After a drubbing, the losing side knows exactly how outmatched they were. The word suggests not just losing, but being completely outplayed or overpowered.