Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Drill?

\Drill\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Drilled}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Drilling}.] [D. drillen to bore, drill (soldiers); probably akin to AS. pyrlian, pyrelian, to pierce. See {Thrill}.] 1. To pierce or bore with a drill, or a with a drill; to perforate; as, to drill a hole into a rock; to drill a piece of metal. 2. To train in the military art; to exercise diligently, as soldiers, in military evolutions and exercises; hence, to instruct thoroughly in the rudiments of any art or branch of knowledge; to discipline. He [Frederic the Great] drilled his people, as he drilled his grenadiers. -- Macaulay.
\Drill\, v. i. To practice an exercise or exercises; to train one's self.
\Drill\, n. 1. An instrument with an edged or pointed end used for making holes in hard substances; strictly, a tool that cuts with its end, by revolving, as in drilling metals, or by a succession of blows, as in drilling stone; also, a drill press. 2. (Mil.) The act or exercise of training soldiers in the military art, as in the manual of arms, in the execution of evolutions, and the like; hence, diligent and strict instruction and exercise in the rudiments and methods of any business; a kind or method of military exercises; as, infantry drill; battalion drill; artillery drill. 3. Any exercise, physical or mental, enforced with regularity and by constant repetition; as, a severe drill in Latin grammar. 4. (Zo["o]l.) A marine gastropod, of several species, which kills oysters and other bivalves by drilling holes through the shell. The most destructive kind is {Urosalpinx cinerea}. {Bow drill}, {Breast drill}. See under {Bow}, {Breast}. {Cotter drill}, or {Traverse drill}, a machine tool for drilling slots. {Diamond drill}. See under {Diamond}. {Drill jig}. See under {Jig}. {Drill pin}, the pin in a lock which enters the hollow stem of the key. {Drill sergeant} (Mil.), a noncommissioned officer whose office it is to instruct soldiers as to their duties, and to train them to military exercises and evolutions. {Vertical drill}, a drill press.
\Drill\, v. t. [Cf. {Trill} to trickle, {Trickle}, {Dribble}, and W. rhillio to put in a row, drill.] 1. To cause to flow in drills or rills or by trickling; to drain by trickling; as, waters drilled through a sandy stratum. [R.] --Thomson. 2. To sow, as seeds, by dribbling them along a furrow or in a row, like a trickling rill of water. 3. To entice; to allure from step; to decoy; -- with on. [Obs.] See drilled him on to five-fifty. -- Addison. 4. To cause to slip or waste away by degrees. [Obs.] This accident hath drilled away the whole summer. -- Swift.
\Drill\, v. i. 1. To trickle. [Obs. or R.] --Sandys. 2. To sow in drills.
\Drill\, n. 1. A small trickling stream; a rill. [Obs.] Springs through the pleasant meadows pour their drills. --Sandys. 2. (Agr.) (a) An implement for making holes for sowing seed, and sometimes so formed as to contain seeds and drop them into the hole made. (b) A light furrow or channel made to put seed into sowing. (c) A row of seed sown in a furrow. Note: Drill is used adjectively, or as the first part of a compound; as, drill barrow or drill-barrow; drill husbandry; drill plow or drill-plow. {Drill barrow}, a wheeled implement for planting seed in drills. {Drill bow}, a small bow used for the purpose of rapidly turning a drill around which the bowstring takes a turn. {Drill harrow}, a harrow used for stirring the ground between rows, or drills. {Drill plow}, or {Drill plough}, a sort plow for sowing grain in drills.
\Drill\, n. [Cf. {Mandrill}.] (Zo["o]l.) A large African baboon ({Cynocephalus leucoph[ae]us}).
\Drill\, n. [Usually in pl.] (Manuf.) Same as {Drilling}. {Imperial drill}, a linen fabric having two threads in the warp and three in the filling.