DRILL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does drill mean? 

• DRILL (noun)
  The noun DRILL has 4 senses:

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

3. systematic training by multiple repetitions

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

  Familiarity information: DRILL used as a noun is uncommon.

• DRILL (verb)
  The verb DRILL has 5 senses:

1. make a hole, especially with a pointed power or hand tool

2. train in the military, e.g., in the use of weapons

3. learn by repetition

4. teach by repetition

5. undergo military training or do military exercises

  Familiarity information: DRILL used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DRILL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("drill" is a kind of...):

tool (an implement used in the practice of a vocation)

Meronyms (parts of "drill"):

chuck (a holding device consisting of adjustable jaws that center a workpiece in a lathe or center a tool in a drill)

bit (the cutting part of a drill; usually pointed and threaded and is replaceable in a brace or bitstock or drill press)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "drill"):

breast drill (a portable drill with a plate that is pressed against the chest to force the drill point into the work)

trepan (a drill for cutting circular holes around a center)

reamer (a drill that is used to shape or enlarge holes)

power drill (a power tool for drilling holes into hard materials)

hand drill; handheld drill (a small portable drill held and operated by hand)

burr drill; dentist's drill (a high speed drill that dentists use to cut into teeth)

core drill (a drill that removes a cylindrical core from the drill hole)

brace and bit (a drill consisting of a bit and a brace to hold and turn it)

bore bit; borer; rock drill; stone drill (a drill for penetrating rock)

auger; gimlet; screw auger; wimble (hand tool for boring holes)

Derivation:

drill (make a hole, especially with a pointed power or hand tool)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Similar to the mandrill but smaller and less brightly colored

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

drill; Mandrillus leucophaeus

Hypernyms ("drill" is a kind of...):

baboon (large terrestrial monkeys having doglike muzzles)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Systematic training by multiple repetitions

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

drill; exercise; practice; practice session; recitation

Context example:

practice makes perfect

Hypernyms ("drill" is a kind of...):

grooming; preparation; training (activity leading to skilled behavior)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "drill"):

manual; manual of arms ((military) a prescribed drill in handling a rifle)

military drill (training in marching and the use of weapons)

rehearsal ((psychology) a form of practice; repetition of information (silently or aloud) in order to keep it in short-term memory)

dry run; rehearsal (a practice session in preparation for a public performance (as of a play or speech or concert))

brushup; review (practice intended to polish performance or refresh the memory)

scrimmage ((American football) practice play between a football team's squads)

shadowboxing (sparring with an imaginary opponent (for exercise or training))

target practice (practice in shooting at targets)

fire drill (an exercise intended to train people in duties and escape procedures to be followed in case of fire)

Derivation:

drill (learn by repetition)

drill (teach by repetition)

Sense 4

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("drill" is a kind of...):

grooming; preparation; training (activity leading to skilled behavior)

Domain category:

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

Derivation:

drill (undergo military training or do military exercises)

• DRILL (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they drill    ... he / she / it drills   
Past simple: drilled   
Past participle: drilled   
-ing form: drilling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make a hole, especially with a pointed power or hand tool

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

bore; drill

Context example:

carpenter bees are boring holes into the wall

Hypernyms (to "drill" is one way to...):

cut (separate with or as if with an instrument)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "drill"):

spud (initiate drilling operations, as for petroleum)

counter-drill (drill in an opposite direction)

trepan (cut a hole with a trepan, as in surgery)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

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

drilling (the act of drilling a hole in the earth in the hope of producing petroleum)

drilling (the act of drilling)

electric drill (a rotating power drill powered by an electric motor)

Sense 2

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "drill" is one way to...):

develop; educate; prepare; train (create by training and teaching)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 3

Meaning:

Learn by repetition

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

drill; exercise; practice; practise

Context example:

Pianists practice scales

Hypernyms (to "drill" is one way to...):

learn; read; study; take (be a student of a certain subject)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

drill (systematic training by multiple repetitions)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Teach by repetition

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "drill" is one way to...):

instruct; learn; teach (impart skills or knowledge to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "drill"):

beat in; drill in; hammer in; ram down (teach by drills and repetition)

inculcate; infuse; instill (teach and impress by frequent repetitions or admonitions)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

drill (systematic training by multiple repetitions)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Undergo military training or do military exercises

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "drill" is one way to...):

prepare; train (undergo training or instruction in preparation for a particular role, function, or profession)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

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

 Context examples 

Issue associated with an undesired material damage characterized by closely spaced punched or drilled holes.

(Medical Device Material Perforation, Food and Drug Administration)

But enhancements to deep ocean drilling techniques and decreasing costs of DNA sequencing have for the first time made it possible to unravel the secrets of the underworld.

(Researchers Create New Model of Ecosystem Hidden Beneath Earth, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

A tablet with a semi-permeable membrane composed of active and/or inert ingredient(s) and an osmotic agent with a laser drilled central core.

(Osmotic Laser Drilled Tablet Dosage Form, NCI Thesaurus)

A small opening in the skull made with a surgical drill.

(Burr hole, NCI Dictionary)

As part of the NSF-funded Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling (WISSARD) project, the researchers successfully drilled through the ice sheet in 2013 to reach Lake Whillans.

(Methane-eating bacteria in lake deep beneath Antarctic ice sheet may reduce greenhouse gas emissions, National Science Foundation)

The team pieced together data from a sediment core drilled from the bottom of the Nordic Seas, a lake sediment core from southern Scandinavia, and ice cores from Greenland.

(A new study is the first to measure the time lags between changing ocean currents and major climate shifts., University of Cambridge)

A process that uses a laser to drill holes in a tablet.

(Laser Drill Formulation Process, NCI Thesaurus)

After this drilling is completed, Curiosity will continue farther south and higher up Mount Sharp, leaving behind these spectacular formations.

(Mars Rover Views Spectacular Layered Rock Formations, NASA)

The rover carries laboratory instruments to analyze rock powder collected by the drill.

(NASA Mars Orbiter Spies Rover Near Martian Butte, NASA)

A multidimensional representation of data which provides fast retrieval and drill down facilities.

(Data Cube, NCI Thesaurus)