drill

¹

[ dril ]

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 [sneyl, bawr]. 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. 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

[ dril ]

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

[ dril ]

noun

1. a strong, twilled cotton fabric.

drill

⁴

[ dril ]

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

/ drɪl /

noun

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

drill

²

/ 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

³

/ 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

⁴

/ drɪl /

noun

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

Derived Forms

• ˈdriller, noun
• ˈdrillable, adjective
• ˈdriller, noun

Other Words From

• drill·a·ble adjective
• drill·a·bil·i·ty [dril-, uh, -, bil, -i-tee], noun
• drill·er noun
• un·drill·a·ble adjective

Word History and Origins

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; mandrill

Word History and Origins

Origin of drill¹

C18: variant of German Drillich, from Latin trilīx, from tri- + līcium thread

Origin of drill²

C17: from Middle Dutch drillen; related to Old High German drāen to turn

Origin of drill³

C18: of uncertain origin; compare German Rille furrow

Origin of drill⁴

C17: from a West African word; compare mandrill

Synonym Study

See exercise.

Example Sentences

The link is about as thick as the human skull, and Musk said it could plop neatly onto the surface of the brain through a drill hole that could then be sealed with superglue.

From MIT Technology Review

Collen gave Laney the green light after seeing her dominate early shooting drills in practice.

From FiveThirtyEight

During several trips to Greenland, he and NASA researchers tested a drill that can cut through hundreds of feet of ice, measuring organic matter and other “biosignatures” as it goes down.

From Quanta Magazine

In 2017 and 2019, we went to the Greenland ice sheet to test a drill you could take to Europa.

From Quanta Magazine

Coaches can create drills to help players focus on those shots.

From Science News For Students

Prince may have pranced around like a carefree libertine onstage, but in rehearsal he was more drill sergeant than sprite.

From The Daily Beast

As I forced my exhausted body to exercise, I yelled at my legs like a drill sergeant, demanding five more minutes or one more set.

From The Daily Beast

For example, studies cited in the report have shown a higher incidence of birth defects for people living near drill sites.

From The Daily Beast

In place of horses, underclassmen would pull the field pieces around the drill ground.

From The Daily Beast

And as it turns out, those adorable pink drill bits are potentially facilitating the addition of carcinogens into the environment.

From The Daily Beast

His drill-like nose, his powerful fore-legs and big, strong feet all served to make him the fastest digger in Pleasant Valley.

From Project Gutenberg

A minikin three-and-a-half-feet Colonel, being one day at the drill, was examining a strapper of six feet four.

From Project Gutenberg

She rode the drill every day, like any soldier; and she could take the bugle and direct the evolutions herself.

From Project Gutenberg

They were learning how to drill, how to fire, how to dig ditches and build impromptu forts in haste.

From Project Gutenberg

It was explained that great difficulty frequently exists in getting firemen to take part in a boat drill.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• dig
• penetrate
• punch

About This Word

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

Where does drill come from?

Drill is a type of trap music—a popular and influential Southern hip-hop genre characterized by dark, raw electronic beats and aggressive, provocative lyrics involving drugs and crime—that originated in Chicago, Illinois, in the 2010s.

Some key early rappers of the drill scene are Pacman, King Louie, and Chief Keef. Big artists from other hip-hop genres, including Kanye West and Drake, helped popularize drill, notably when Kanye West remixed Chief Keef’s 2012 “I Don’t Like” in 2013.

Like the tool and action the word originally defines, drill is intended to evoke violent and sexual aspects of a hard-hitting lifestyle or circumstances. (Talk about hard-hitting: hammer drills can pierce holes into concrete and brick.)

While some may find the application of the word drill to hip-hop alarming or challenging, drill has been used as sexual slang since the early 1600s and as slang for shooting someone since the late 1700s. Drill metaphors also have yielded such expressions as drilling someone (yelling at them), drilling information into something (so they learn it), or military drill.

Around 2012, Chicago drill music began influencing what’s called UK drill, originating in the South London neighborhood of Britxon. It also draws from such UK-based genres as grime, garage, and road rap. Like Chicago drill, UK drill deals with experiences of poverty, public housing, drug-dealing, and street violence.

The graphic, almost nihilistic content of drill music has drawn condemnation, with some critics concerned that the music glorified, and therefore, encouraged violence. In summer 2018, London’s Metropolitan Police, for instance, took down a number of YouTube drill music videos over concerns about a spike in knife-related crimes.

Many drill artists and fans, however, think the music exposes the harsh realities of Black poverty—its stylistic characteristics are a form of social critique and commentary.

How is drill used in real life?

Drill can refer to the genre itself—also called drill music, drill rap, or drill hip-hop.

No hip-hop scene has been as impactful as drill

Here are 11 songs that tell its story https://t.co/d6HJ02gcsX

— Pitchfork (@pitchfork) October 15, 2019

Drill is often used attributively, too, as in drill artist or drill scene.

For @DJmag, I enjoyed writing about @YukkiVisuals, @ProdByWalkz, @rashidkasirye of @linkuptv + Kingsley Okyere of @MixtapeMadness, who are some of the most exciting creatives taking the UK drill scene to newer heights.https://t.co/YKNZv6ewqr

— ethan (@ethanherlock) April 29, 2020

In addition to Chicago drill and UK drill, there is a noted drill scene in New York City, commonly referred to as New York drill or Brooklyn (BK) drill.

Drake using his U.K. accent on a BK drill beat. pic.twitter.com/x6wzyJ94is

— Chris Prothro (@chrisprothro) May 1, 2020

More examples of drill:

“In recent years, the highly aggressive lyrics in drill music have been the cause of great debate over whether or not they’re influencing the violence plaguing Chicago.”
—Tony Delerme, HuffPost, December 2014

“The similarities between life in Chicago and Brooklyn inspired Sheff to channel the spirit and passion of drill into his own music … Sheff made clear that his take on drill was a showcase for lyricism, and for Brooklyn’s trademark unbothered attitude.”
—Pitchfork, Alphonse Pierre, May 2019