English
drill
Pronunciation
  • enPR: drĭl, IPA: /dɹɪl/, [dɹɪɫ]
Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch drillen.

Verb

drill (drills, present participle drilling; simple past and past participle drilled)

  1. (transitive) To create (a hole) by removing material with a drill tool.
    Synonyms: excavate, bore, gouge, Thesaurus:make a hole
    Drill a small hole to start the screw in the right direction.
  2. (intransitive) To practice, especially in (or as in) a military context.
    They drilled daily to learn the routine exactly.
  3. (ergative) To cause to drill practice; to train in military arts.
    The sergeant was up by 6:00 every morning, drilling his troops.
    • 1859, Thomas Macaulay, Life of Frederick the Great:
      He [Frederic the Great] drilled his people, as he drilled his grenadiers.
  4. (transitive) To repeat an idea frequently in order to encourage someone to remember it.
    The instructor drilled into us the importance of reading the instructions.
  5. (intransitive, figurative) To investigate or examine something in more detail or at a different level
    Drill deeper and you may find the underlying assumptions faulty.
  6. (transitive) To throw, run, hit or kick with a lot of power.
    He drilled down the court and made a three-pointer.
    He drilled the ball to his teammate.
  7. (baseball) To hit someone with a pitch, especially in an intentional context.
  8. (slang, vulgar) To have sexual intercourse with; to penetrate.
    Synonyms: plow, poke, root, shaft, Thesaurus:copulate with
  9. (slang) To shoot; to kill.
    Synonyms: drill up
Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Noun

drill (plural drills)

  1. A tool or machine used to remove material so as to create a hole, typically by plunging a rotating cutting bit into a stationary workpiece.
    Wear safety glasses when operating an electric drill.
  2. The portion of a drilling tool that drives the bit.
    Use a drill with a wire brush to remove any rust or buildup.
  3. An activity done as an exercise or practice (especially a military exercise), particularly in preparation for some possible future event or occurrence.
    Regular fire drills can ensure that everyone knows how to exit safely in an emergency.
    • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC ↗:
      “ […] if you call my duds a ‘livery’ again there'll be trouble. It's bad enough to go around togged out like a life saver on a drill day, but I can stand that 'cause I'm paid for it. What I won't stand is to have them togs called a livery. […] ”
  4. A short and highly repeatable sports training exercise designed to hone a particular skill that may be useful in competition.
    At today's practice, the football team performed a variety of goalkeeping drills.
  5. Any of several molluscs, of the genus Urosalpinx and others, especially the oyster drill (Urosalpinx cinerea), that make holes in the shells of their prey.
  6. (uncountable, music genre) A style of trap music with gritty, violent lyrics, originating on the South Side of Chicago. [from 2010s]
Translations Translations Translations Translations
  • Portuguese: saquaritá
Related terms Etymology 2

Perhaps the same as Etymology 3; compare German Rille which can also mean "small furrow".

Noun

drill (plural drills)

  1. An agricultural implement for making holes for sowing seed, and sometimes so formed as to contain seeds and drop them into the hole made.
  2. A light furrow or channel made to put seed into, when sowing.
  3. A row of seed sown in a furrow.
Translations Translations Verb

drill (drills, present participle drilling; simple past and past participle drilled)

  1. (transitive) To sow (seeds) by dribbling them along a furrow or in a row.
Noun

drill (plural drills)

  1. (obsolete) A small trickling stream; a rill.
    • c. 1635, George Sandys:
      Springs through the pleasant meadows pour their drills.
Verb

drill (drills, present participle drilling; simple past and past participle drilled)

  1. (transitive) To cause to flow in drills or rills or by trickling; to drain by trickling.
    waters drilled through a sandy stratum
    • 1615, George Sandys, “(please specify the page)”, in The Relation of a Iourney Begun An: Dom: 1610. […], London: […] [Richard Field] for W. Barrett, →OCLC ↗:
      Now it is a great square profunditie ; greene , and uneven at the bottome : into which a barren spring doch drill from betweene the stones of the North - ward wall
Etymology 4

From Middle English drillen, of origin unknown.

Verb

drill (drills, present participle drilling; simple past and past participle drilled)

  1. (transitive, obsolete or dialectal) To protract, lengthen out; fritter away, spend (time) aimlessly.
    Quit purposely drilling out the time hoping that someone else will do your chores.
  2. (transitive, obsolete or dialectal) To entice or allure; to decoy; with on.
    Synonyms: entice, lead on, lure
  3. (transitive, obsolete or dialectal) To cause to slip or waste away by degrees.
    • August 28, 1731, letter by Jonathan Swift to John Gay and Catherine Douglas, Duchess of Queensberry
      This cursed accident hath drilled away the whole summer.
Etymology 5

Probably of African origin; compare mandrill.

Noun

drill (plural drills)

  1. An Old World monkey of West Africa, Mandrillus leucophaeus, similar in appearance to the mandrill, but lacking the colorful face.
Translations Etymology 6

From German Drillich.

Noun

drill

  1. A strong, durable cotton fabric with a strong bias (diagonal) in the weave.
Synonyms Translations

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