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drilling

1 American  
[dril-ing] / ˈdrɪl ɪŋ /

noun

  1. the act of a person or thing that drills. drill.

drilling 2 American  
[dril-ing] / ˈdrɪl ɪŋ /

noun

  1. drill.

Etymology

Origin of drilling1

First recorded in 1615–25; drill 1 + -ing 1

Origin of drilling2

1630–40; alteration of German Drillich, itself alteration of Latin trilīx triple-twilled ( German dri- three- replacing Latin tri- )

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Well, you couldn’t stop the drilling after that.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026

Thomas compared the situation to the fuel shocks of the 1970s, which helped advance the mass adoption of natural gas for heating instead of fuel oil and the doubling down of drilling for oil domestically.

From Salon • Mar. 26, 2026

He brushed aside suggestions that more oil drilling in the North Sea would make the UK more resilient.

From BBC • Mar. 25, 2026

Your life won’t crater because you can’t stop playing the piano, practicing tennis serves, drilling irregular French verbs or reading another page of “Plutarch’s Lives.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 23, 2026

Also all the slang, the “square-bashing” drilling exercises, and the boring meals and the uniforms, though Maddie’s group didn’t get issued proper uniforms at first.

From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.