DRILL • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Drill

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/drɪl/ Listen

Drill

noun

1.

A tool with a sharp point and cutting edges for making holes in hard materials (usually rotating rapidly or by repeated blows).

2.

Similar to the mandrill but smaller and less brightly colored. Synonym: Mandrillus leucophaeus.

3.

Systematic training by multiple repetitions. Synonyms: exercise, practice, practice session, recitation.

4.

(military) the training of soldiers to march (as in ceremonial parades) or to perform the manual of arms.

verb

(past & past part. drilled; pres. part. drilling)

1.

Make a hole, especially with a pointed power or hand tool. Synonym: bore. "Drill a hole into the wall" , "Drill for oil" , "Carpenter bees are boring holes into the wall"

2.

Train in the military, e.g., in the use of weapons.

3.

Learn by repetition. Synonyms: exercise, practice, practise. "Pianists practice scales"

4.

Teach by repetition.

5.

Undergo military training or do military exercises.

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WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University

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"Drill" Quotes from Famous Books

... them in any situation. That as soon as the vocabulary is large enough they should be written in the form of a new exercise, as on pp. 36, 44, 52, 60, and 68 of this book. 4th.—That thorough and systematic drill in Spelling is absolutely necessary. That the "Reading Reviews" should be so constructed as to contain all the new words used in the lessons they were intended to review, and no others, so that they can be used for "Written ...

— New National First Reader • Charles J. Barnes, et al.

... wing, one by one, and flies down to the ground with them. As soon as her brood of ten or a dozen is thus collected, she leads them off to the nearest water, and the whole lot of Ducklings go in swimming, bobbing for food as if they were a year old instead of only a few hours. Then mamma begins to drill them in danger-signalling, so that at the slightest hint from her they dive and swim ...

— Citizen Bird • Mabel Osgood Wright and Elliott Coues

... of hostilities—one of preparation on both sides —the battles were naturally fewer in number and less decisive in character than afterwards, when discipline had been imparted to the troops by drill, and when the materiel of war had been collected and stored for prolonged campaigns. The engagements of all kinds in 1861 were thirty-five in number, of which the most serious was the Union defeat at Bull Run. In 1862 the war had greatly increased in magnitude and ...

— Twenty Years of Congress, Volume 2 (of 2) • James Gillespie Blaine

... listened to the lectures and wrote them down afterwards, so far as their memory served them. The usual text-book was the "Book of Sentences," by Peter Lombard. The bachelor, after having previously studied ten years, was obliged to go through a three years' drill, and then submit to a public examination in presence of the whole university before he was thought fit to teach. He could not then receive his master's badge until he had successfully maintained a public disputation ...

— Beacon Lights of History, Volume V • John Lord

... did, he certainly had nothing to complain about. His long nose was as good as a drill. And his front legs were just long enough so that he could reach his large, spade-like feet beyond his nose and throw the dirt back. His fur lay in one direction as easily as in another, never troubling him in the least ...

— The Tale of Grandfather Mole • Arthur Scott Bailey

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