drill Hear it!

drill1 definition

drill (dril)

noun

  1. a tool or apparatus for boring holes in wood, metal, stone, teeth, etc.
  2. the sound of drilling or boring
  3. ☆ any of various genera of snails, esp. a saltwater species (Urosalpinx cinerea), that bores through the shells of oysters and other shellfish and consumes their flesh
    1. military or physical training, esp. of a group, as in marching, the manual of arms, or gymnastic exercises
    2. a single exercise in such training
    1. the process of training or teaching by the continued repetition of an exercise
    2. a single exercise in such training or teaching
  4. the method or style of drilling
  5. Informal the accepted or usual way of doing something

Etymology: Du dril < drillen, to bore, ult. < IE base *ter, to rub (esp. with turning motion) > throw

transitive verb

  1. to bore (a hole) in (something) with or as with a drill
  2. to train in military or physical exercise; specif., to exercise (troops) in close-order drill
  3. to teach or train by putting through repeated exercises
  4. to instill (ideas, facts, etc.) into someone by repeated exercises
  5. Informal to hit sharply she drilled the ball past the pitcher; I drilled him with the ball
  6. Slang to penetrate with bullets

Etymology: Du drillen

intransitive verb

  1. to bore a hole or holes
  2. to engage in, or be put through, military, physical, or mental exercises

Related Forms:

drill2 definition

drill (dril)

noun

  1. a furrow in which seeds are planted
  2. a row of planted seeds
  3. a machine for making holes or furrows, dropping seeds into them, and covering them

Etymology: < ?

transitive verb

  1. to sow (seeds) in rows to improve growth and efficiency
  2. to plant (a field) in drills
drill3 definition

drill (dril)

noun

a coarse linen or cotton cloth with a diagonal weave, used for work clothes, uniforms, etc.

Etymology: < earlier drilling < Ger drillich < OHG drilich, made of three threads < L trilix (gen. trilicis) < tri-, tri- + licium, thread

drill4 definition

drill (dril)

noun

a short-tailed, bright-cheeked monkey (Mandrillus leucophaeus) native to W Africa, resembling the mandrill but smaller

Etymology: < ? native term

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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