drill

¹ American  

[dril] / drɪl /

noun

1. Machinery, Building Trades.

   1. a shaftlike tool with two or more cutting edges for making holes in firm materials, especially by rotation.

   2. a tool, especially a hand tool, for holding and operating such a tool.

2. Military.

   1. training in formal marching or other precise military or naval movements.

   2. an exercise in such training.

      gun drill.

3. any strict, methodical, repetitive, or mechanical training, instruction, or exercise.

   a spelling drill.

4. the correct or customary manner of proceeding.

5. Also called snail bore.  a gastropod, Urosalpinx cinera, that bores holes in shellfish, as oysters.

---

verb (used with object)

1. to pierce or bore a hole in (something).

2. to make (a hole) by boring.

3. Military. to instruct and exercise (military trainees) in formation marching and movement, in the carrying of arms during formal marching, and in the formal handling of arms for ceremonies and guard duty.

4. to impart (knowledge) by strict training, discipline, or repetition.

5. to train or rehearse (a person or group) in a subject, discipline, etc., by guided repetition, quizzing, and other techniques.

verb (used without object)

1. to pierce or bore something with or as with a drill.

2. to penetrate deeply beneath the ground or the seafloor with specialized machinery to search for deposits or reservoirs of a natural substance.

   to drill for oil.

3. to go through exercise in military or other training.

verb phrase

1. drill down

   1. Computers. to move through a hierarchical system in order to view data at a lower level, as to find a specific file or database record.

   2. to access and examine something more thoroughly or in more detail.

      Now that you have the big picture, let’s drill down to some technical facts and statistics.

drill ² American  

[dril] / drɪl /

noun

1. a small furrow made in the soil in which to sow seeds.

2. a row of seeds or plants thus sown.

3. a machine for sowing in rows and for covering the seeds when sown.

---

verb (used with object)

1. to sow (seed) in drills.

2. to sow or plant (soil, a plot of ground, etc.) in drills.

verb (used without object)

1. to sow seed in drills.

drill ³ American  

[dril] / drɪl /

noun

1. a strong, twilled cotton fabric.

---

drill ⁴ American  

[dril] / drɪl /

noun

1. a large, baboonlike monkey, Mandrillus leucophaeus, of western Africa, similar to the related mandrill but smaller and less brightly colored: now endangered.

---

drill ¹ British  

/ drɪl /

noun

1. a rotating tool that is inserted into a drilling machine or tool for boring cylindrical holes

2. a hand tool, either manually or electrically operated, for drilling holes

3. military

   1. training in procedures or movements, as for ceremonial parades or the use of weapons

   2. ( as modifier )

      drill hall

4. strict and often repetitious training or exercises used as a method of teaching

5. informal correct procedure or routine

6. a marine gastropod mollusc, Urosalpinx cinera, closely related to the whelk, that preys on oysters

---

verb

1. to pierce, bore, or cut (a hole) in (material) with or as if with a drill

   to drill a hole

   to drill metal

2. to instruct or be instructed in military procedures or movements

3. (tr) to teach by rigorous exercises or training

4. informal (tr) to hit (a ball) in a straight line at great speed

5. informal (tr) to riddle with bullets

drill ² British  

/ drɪl /

noun

1. a machine for planting seeds in rows or depositing fertilizer

2. a small furrow in which seeds are sown

3. a row of seeds planted using a drill

---

verb

1. to plant (seeds) by means of a drill

drill ³ British  

/ drɪl /

noun

1. a hard-wearing twill-weave cotton cloth, used for uniforms, etc

---

drill ⁴ British  

/ drɪl /

noun

1. an Old World monkey, Mandrillus leucophaeus, of W Africa, related to the mandrill but smaller and less brightly coloured

---

Usage

What else does drill mean? In music and pop culture, drill is a style of hip-hop known for grim, violent lyrics and gritty, intense beats. Drawing on Southern rap, drill originated in Chicago in the 2010s and influenced, among others, a UK style of hip-hop known as UK drill. What are some other words related to drill?

• grime
• mumble rap
• trap music

Related Words

See exercise.

Other Word Forms

• drillability
  noun
• drillable
  adjective
• driller
  noun
• undrillable
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of drill¹

First recorded in 1605–15; from Dutch dril (noun), drillen (verb)

Origin of drill²

First recorded in 1720–30; compare drill “rill,” German Rille “furrow,” rillen “to groove”

Origin of drill³

First recorded in 1735–45; short for drilling ²

Origin of drill⁴

First recorded in 1635–45; of obscure origin; cf. mandrill

Explanation

A drill is a power tool that's used for making narrow holes or sometimes for pushing screws into wood or other hard material. The word is also a verb to describe the action a drill performs. For example, a dentist might drill into your tooth if you have a cavity. A carpenter's drill can be held in one hand, while an oil drill is a large rig that hollows out holes in rock through which oil can flow. To drill is to bore holes in a hard surface, and it's also to teach something by repeating facts over and over: "I hate math, because my teacher just drills multiplication tables." Drill has a Dutch root, drillen, "to bore a hole, turn around, or whirl."

Example Sentences

So Cignetti put his own spin on The Process: Drill to the point of proficiency, and not a second more.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 9, 2025

Drill started in Chicago in the early 2010s but in recent years UK artists have adopted the genre.

From BBC • Apr. 3, 2024

Drill down a bit and there’s a bigger problem under both of these things.

From Slate • Feb. 16, 2024

The first generation of Being began in 2019, and a recent iteration was shown at the Park Avenue Armory Drill Hall in New York for an exhibition titled “Assembly” in 2022.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 12, 2024

Five hundred armed police surrounded the Drill Hall.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

Related Words

• assignment
• conditioning
• discipline
• drilling
• homework
• preparation
• repetition
• training
• tryout
• workout