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drill¹

(drĭl)

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.

3. The training of soldiers in marching and the manual of arms.

4. 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.

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.

2. 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: drilled the correct spellings into the students' heads. See Synonyms at teach.

4. To train (soldiers) in marching and the manual of arms.

v.intr.

1. To make a hole with or as if with a drill.

2. To perform a training exercise.

Phrasal Verb:

drill down

To view data or other information at a more detailed level: business software that allows users to drill down from annual to monthly sales figures.

[Obsolete Dutch dril, from drillen, to bore, from Middle Dutch drillen; see terə-¹ in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

driller n.

drill²

(drĭl)

1. A shallow trench or furrow in which seeds are planted.

2. A row of planted seeds.

3. A machine or implement for planting seeds in holes or furrows.

tr.v. drilled, drill·ing, drills

1. To sow (seeds) in rows.

2. To plant (a field) in drills.

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

drill³

(drĭl)

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)

A large monkey (Mandrillus leucophaeus) of west-central African forests, having an olive brown body and a brightly colored face and resembling the mandrill.

[Possibly of West African origin.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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