DRILL


Meaning of DRILL in English

/ drɪl; NAmE / noun , verb

■ noun

1.

[ C ] a tool or machine with a pointed end for making holes :

an electric drill

a pneumatic drill

a hand drill

a dentist's drill

a drill bit (= the pointed part at the end of the drill )

2.

[ C , U ] a way of learning sth by means of repeated exercises

3.

[ C , U ] a practice of what to do in an emergency, for example if there is a fire :

a fire drill

4.

[ U ] military training in marching, the use of weapons, etc. :

rifle drill

5.

the drill [ sing. ] ( old-fashioned , BrE ) the correct or usual way to do sth

SYN procedure :

What's the drill for claiming expenses?

6.

[ U ] a type of strong cotton cloth

7.

[ C ] a machine for planting seeds in rows

■ verb

1.

to make a hole in sth, using a drill :

[ vn ]

Drill a series of holes in the frame.

[ v ]

They're drilling for oil off the Irish coast.

He drilled through the wall by mistake.

2.

drill sb (in sth) to teach sb to do sth by making them repeat it a lot of times :

[ vn to inf ]

The children were drilled to leave the classroom quickly when the fire bell rang.

[ vn ]

a well-drilled team

3.

[ vn ] to train soldiers to perform military actions

PHRASAL VERBS

- drill down

- drill sth into sb

••

WORD ORIGIN

noun senses 1 to 5 and verb early 17th cent.: from Middle Dutch drillen bore, turn in a circle.

noun sense 7 early 18th cent. (as a noun in the sense small furrow ): perhaps from drill make a hole .

noun sense 6 early 18th cent.: abbreviation of earlier drilling , from German Drillich , from Latin trilix triple-twilled, from tri- three + licium thread.

Oxford Advanced Learner's English Dictionary.      Оксфордский английский словарь для изучающик язык на продвинутом уровне.