Library / English Dictionary

DRILL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

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)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Systematic training by multiple repetitions

Example:

practice makes perfect

Synonyms:

drill; exercise; practice; practice session; recitation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

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

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

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

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

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)

Derivation:

drill (learn by repetition)

drill (teach by repetition)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Similar to the mandrill but smaller and less brightly colored

Synonyms:

drill; Mandrillus leucophaeus

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

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

baboon (large terrestrial monkeys having doglike muzzles)

Sense 4

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"):

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)

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

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)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

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 2

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)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Learn by repetition

Example:

Pianists practice scales

Synonyms:

drill; exercise; practice; practise

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

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:

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

Example:

carpenter bees are boring holes into the wall

Synonyms:

bore; drill

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

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)

Credits

 Context examples: 

In July 2015, on Sol 1060 (the number of Martian days since landing), the rover collected powder drilled from rock at a location named "Buckskin."

(NASA Scientists Discover Unexpected Mineral on Mars, NASA)

The WISSARD team made scientific and engineering history in late January of 2013 when they used clean hot-water drilling technology to access subglacial Lake Whillans.

(800 meters beneath Antarctic ice sheet, subglacial lake holds viable microbial ecosystems, NSF)

Human-made sounds can be everything from spinning wind turbines and ship traffic to water scooters and drilling platforms.

(Marine Birds Can Hear Under Water, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Curiosity has analyzed rock samples drilled from three targets lower on the mountain in the past seven months.

(Curiosity Eyes Prominent Mineral Veins on Mars, NASA)

EXAMPLE(S): Fire drill - forgot to ask, subject refused, sample lost, broken equipment; NOTE(S): This value should only be populated if PerformedObservationResult.value is null.

(Performed Observation Result Value Null Flavor Reason, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)

He had turned suddenly, and his long, thin finger was pointing to a hole which had been drilled right through the lower window-sash, about an inch above the bottom.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Saturn may be supportive, but can also be a drill sergeant, as he works to help you polish your performance.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

While I dress, do you drill her, Nan, in the management of her skirt and those French heels, or she will trip herself up.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

You have lived the life of a nun: no doubt you are well drilled in religious forms;—Brocklehurst, who I understand directs Lowood, is a parson, is he not?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

He is exceedingly neat and prim in his ways, dresses always with great care in white drill suits and high brown mosquito-boots, and shaves at least once a day.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)