~ 1
■ noun
1》 a tool or machine with a rotating or reciprocating cutting tip, used for boring holes.
2》 training in military exercises.
↘instruction by means of repeated exercises.
↘( the ~ ) informal the correct or recognized procedure.
3》 a predatory mollusc that bores into the shells of other molluscs. [ Urosalpinx cinerea ( oyster ~ , America) and other species.]
■ verb
1》 bore (a hole) in something with a ~.
↘sink a borehole.
2》 subject to military training or other intensive instruction.
3》 informal (in sport) hit (a shot) hard and in a straight line.
4》 ( ~ down ) Computing access data in a lower level of a hierarchically structured database.
Derivatives
~er noun
Origin
C17: from MDu. ~en 'bore, turn in a circle'.
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~ 2
■ noun a machine which makes small furrows, sows seed in them, and then covers the sown seed.
↘a small furrow made by a ~.
■ verb sow with a ~.
Origin
C18: perh. from ~ 1 .
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~ 3
■ noun a West African baboon with a naked blue or purple rump. [ Man~us leucophaeus .]
Origin
C17: prob. a local word; cf. man~ .
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~ 4
■ noun a coarse twilled cotton or linen fabric.
Origin
C18: abbrev. of earlier ~ing , from Ger. Drillich , from L. trilix 'triple-twilled', from tri- 'three' + licium 'thread'.