drill definition | Dictionary.com

drill

1 [dril]

–noun

Machinery, Building Trades.

a.	a shaftlike tool with two or more cutting edges for making holes in firm materials, esp. by rotation.

b.	a tool, esp. a hand tool, for holding and operating such a tool.

Military.

a.	training in formal marching or other precise military or naval movements.

b.	an exercise in such training: gun drill.

3.	any strict, methodical, repetitive, or mechanical training, instruction, or exercise: a spelling drill.

4.	the correct or customary manner of proceeding.

5.	Also called snail bore. a gastropod, Urosalpinx cinera, that bores holes in shellfish, as oysters.

–verb (used with object)

6.	to pierce or bore a hole in (something).

7.	to make (a hole) by boring.

8.	Military. to instruct and exercise in formation marching and movement, in the carrying of arms during formal marching, and in the formal handling of arms for ceremonies and guard work.

9.	to impart (knowledge) by strict training, discipline, or repetition.

–verb (used without object)

10.	to pierce or bore something with or as with a drill.

11.	to go through exercise in military or other training.

Origin:
1605–15; < D dril (n.), drillen (v.)

Related forms:

drill⋅a⋅ble, adjective

drill⋅a⋅bil⋅i⋅ty, noun

driller, noun

Synonyms:
3. See exercise.

L.A. Drill & Foundation
Drilling & Foundation Specialists Lowest Prices. Bargain Rates
www.ladrill.com

Drills
More Than Half A Million Industrial Supply Products, Ready To Ship.

MSCDirect.com

drill

2 [dril]

–noun

1.	a small furrow made in the soil in which to sow seeds.

2.	a row of seeds or plants thus sown.

3.	a machine for sowing in rows and for covering the seeds when sown.

–verb (used with object)

4.	to sow (seed) in drills.

5.	to sow or plant (soil, a plot of ground, etc.) in drills.

–verb (used without object)

6.	to sow seed in drills.

Origin:
1720–30; cf. drill rill, G Rille furrow, rillen to groove

Related forms:

driller, noun

drill

3 [dril]

–noun

a strong, twilled cotton fabric.

Origin:
1735–45; short for drilling ²

drill

4 [dril]

–noun

a large, baboonlike monkey, Mandrillus leucophaeus, of western Africa, similar to the related mandrill but smaller and less brightly colored: now endangered.

Origin:
1635–45; of obscure orig.; cf. mandrill

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source

Link To drill

drill¹ (drĭl)

1. An implement with cutting edges or a pointed end for boring holes in hard materials, usually by a rotating abrasion or repeated blows; a bit.
2. The hand-operated or hand-powered holder for this implement.
3. A loud, harsh noise made by or as if by a powered tool of this kind.
4. Disciplined, repetitious exercise as a means of teaching and perfecting a skill or procedure.
5. A task or exercise for teaching a skill or procedure by repetition: conducted an air-raid drill; a drill for learning the multiplication tables.
1. Disciplined, repetitious exercise as a means of teaching and perfecting a skill or procedure.
2. A task or exercise for teaching a skill or procedure by repetition: conducted an air-raid drill; a drill for learning the multiplication tables.
The training of soldiers in marching and the manual of arms.
Any of various marine gastropod mollusks, chiefly of the genus Urosalpinx, that bore holes into the shells of bivalve mollusks. U. cinera is destructive to oysters.

v. drilled, drill·ing, drills

v. tr.

1. To make a hole in (a hard material) with a drill: a bit for drilling masonry.
2. To make (a hole) with or as if with a drill: drills holes in trees with its chisellike bill.
3. To instruct thoroughly by repetition in a skill or procedure: drill pupils in grammar.
4. To infuse knowledge of or skill in by repetitious instruction. See Synonyms at teach.
To strike or hit sharply: The batter drilled a single through the infield.
1. To instruct thoroughly by repetition in a skill or procedure: drill pupils in grammar.
2. To infuse knowledge of or skill in by repetitious instruction. See Synonyms at teach.
To train (soldiers) in marching and the manual of arms.

v. intr.

To make a hole with or as if with a drill.
To perform a training exercise.

[Obsolete Dutch dril, from drillen, to bore, from Middle Dutch drillen; see terə-¹ in Indo-European roots.]
drill'er n.

drill² (drĭl)

A shallow trench or furrow in which seeds are planted.
A row of planted seeds.
A machine or implement for planting seeds in holes or furrows.

tr.v. drilled, drill·ing, drills

To sow (seeds) in rows.
To plant (a field) in drills.

[Perhaps from drill, rill, from Middle English drille, sip.]

drill³ (drĭl)

n. Durable cotton or linen twill of varying weights, generally used for work clothes.

[Short for drilling, alteration of German Drillich, from Middle High German drilich, threefold, fabric woven with three threads, from Old High German drilīh, alteration (influenced by drī, three, and -līh, adj. suff.) of Latin trilīx, triple-twilled; see trellis.]

drill⁴ (drĭl)

n. A baboon (Papio leucophaeus) of western Africa, related to and resembling the mandrill.

[Possibly of West African origin.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Drill

Drill\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Drilled; p. pr. & vb. n. Drilling.] [D. drillen to bore, drill (soldiers); probably akin to AS. pyrlian, pyrelian, to pierce. See Thrill.]

1. To pierce or bore with a drill, or a with a drill; to perforate; as, to drill a hole into a rock; to drill a piece of metal.

2. To train in the military art; to exercise diligently, as soldiers, in military evolutions and exercises; hence, to instruct thoroughly in the rudiments of any art or branch of knowledge; to discipline.

He [Frederic the Great] drilled his people, as he drilled his grenadiers. -- Macaulay.

Drill

Drill\, v. i. To practice an exercise or exercises; to train one's self.

Drill

Drill\, n. 1. An instrument with an edged or pointed end used for making holes in hard substances; strictly, a tool that cuts with its end, by revolving, as in drilling metals, or by a succession of blows, as in drilling stone; also, a drill press.

2. (Mil.) The act or exercise of training soldiers in the military art, as in the manual of arms, in the execution of evolutions, and the like; hence, diligent and strict instruction and exercise in the rudiments and methods of any business; a kind or method of military exercises; as, infantry drill; battalion drill; artillery drill.

3. Any exercise, physical or mental, enforced with regularity and by constant repetition; as, a severe drill in Latin grammar.

4. (Zo["o]l.) A marine gastropod, of several species, which kills oysters and other bivalves by drilling holes through the shell. The most destructive kind is Urosalpinx cinerea.

Bow drill, Breast drill. See under Bow, Breast.

Cotter drill, or Traverse drill, a machine tool for drilling slots.

Diamond drill. See under Diamond.

Drill jig. See under Jig.

Drill pin, the pin in a lock which enters the hollow stem of the key.

Drill sergeant (Mil.), a noncommissioned officer whose office it is to instruct soldiers as to their duties, and to train them to military exercises and evolutions.

Vertical drill, a drill press.

Drill

Drill\, v. t. [Cf. Trill to trickle, Trickle, Dribble, and W. rhillio to put in a row, drill.]

1. To cause to flow in drills or rills or by trickling; to drain by trickling; as, waters drilled through a sandy stratum. [R.] --Thomson.

2. To sow, as seeds, by dribbling them along a furrow or in a row, like a trickling rill of water.

3. To entice; to allure from step; to decoy; -- with on. [Obs.]

See drilled him on to five-fifty. -- Addison.

4. To cause to slip or waste away by degrees. [Obs.]

This accident hath drilled away the whole summer. -- Swift.

Drill

Drill\, v. i. 1. To trickle. [Obs. or R.] --Sandys.

2. To sow in drills.

Drill

Drill\, n. 1. A small trickling stream; a rill. [Obs.]

Springs through the pleasant meadows pour their drills. --Sandys.

2. (Agr.) (a) An implement for making holes for sowing seed, and sometimes so formed as to contain seeds and drop them into the hole made. (b) A light furrow or channel made to put seed into sowing. (c) A row of seed sown in a furrow.

Note: Drill is used adjectively, or as the first part of a compound; as, drill barrow or drill-barrow; drill husbandry; drill plow or drill-plow.

Drill barrow, a wheeled implement for planting seed in drills.

Drill bow, a small bow used for the purpose of rapidly turning a drill around which the bowstring takes a turn.

Drill harrow, a harrow used for stirring the ground between rows, or drills.

Drill plow, or Drill plough, a sort plow for sowing grain in drills.

Drill

Drill\, n. [Cf. Mandrill.] (Zo["o]l.) A large African baboon (Cynocephalus leucoph[ae]us).

Drill

Drill\, n. [Usually in pl.] (Manuf.) Same as Drilling.

Imperial drill, a linen fabric having two threads in the warp and three in the filling.

Language Translation for : drill

Spanish: taladrar, perforar,

German: bohren,

Japanese: 穴をあける

More Translations »

drill (1)

1611 (n.), 1649 (v.), from Du. dril, drille "a hole, instrument for boring holes," from drillen "to bore (a hole), turn around, whirl," from P.Gmc. *threljanan. Sense of "to instruct in military exercise" is 1622 (also in Du. drillen and in the Dan. and Ger. cognates), probably from the notion of troops "turning" in maneuvers. Ext. sense of "the agreed-upon procedure" is from 1940.

drill (2)

"small furrow," 1727; also "machine for sowing seeds" (1731), from obsolete drill "rill, trickling stream" (1641), of unknown origin, perhaps connected to drill (1).

drill (3)

"W. African baboon species," 1644, perhaps from a native word.

Main Entry: ¹drill
Pronunciation: 'dril
Function: transitive verb
: to make a hole in with a drill drilled the toothfor a filling> drill intransitive senses
: to make a hole with a drill drilling>

Main Entry: ²drill
Function: noun
: an instrument with an edged or pointed end for making holes in hard substances (as bones or teeth) by revolving

Search another word or see drill on Thesaurus | Reference

Dewalt hammer drill cordless
Bargain Prices. Smart Deals. Save on Dewalt Hammer Drill Cordless!
Shopzilla.com/Dewalt

Drill
Find Drill near you Local Search on Drill
www.HelloLocal.com

Drill - Woodcraft
Woodworking power tools and more. Free Shipping on orders over $75!

Woodcraft.com

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Advertise with Us · Link to Us · NASCAR® · Contact Us