drill

The definition of a drill is a tool for creating holes, or a training exercise.

(noun)

An example of a drill is what one uses to put holes in a piece of wood for building.
An example of a drill is running laps for a track team.

To dill is defined as to make a hole, or to teach by repetitive instruction.

(verb)

An example of to drill is to make a hole in a piece of wood with a tool.
An example of to drill is to have students repeat the multiplication tables 10 times a day.

See drill in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

a tool or apparatus for boring holes in wood, metal, stone, teeth, etc.
the sound of drilling or boring
☆ 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
the method or style of drilling
Informal the accepted or usual way of doing something

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

transitive verb

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

Origin: Du drillen

intransitive verb

Related Forms:

noun

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

Origin: < ?

transitive verb

noun

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

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

noun

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

Origin: < ? native term

See drill in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

a. 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.
b. The hand-operated or hand-powered holder for this implement.
c. A loud, harsh noise made by or as if by a powered tool of this kind.
a. Disciplined, repetitious exercise as a means of teaching and perfecting a skill or procedure.
b. 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.

verb drilled, drill·ing, drills

verb, transitive

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