drill
noun/drɪl/
/drɪl/
- [countable] a tool or machine with a pointed end for making holes
- an electric drill
- a hand drill
- a dentist’s drill
- a drill bit (= the pointed part at the end of the drill)
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- [countable, uncountable] a way of learning something by means of repeated exercisesTopics Educationc2, Languagec2
- [countable, uncountable] a practice of what to do in an emergency, for example if there is a fire
- This is not a drill! Please evacuate the building.
Extra Examples- New Zealand has an annual earthquake drill.
- Air-raid drills and evacuation procedures have been practised.
- [uncountable] military training in marching, the use of weapons, etc.
- rifle drill
- the drill[singular] (old-fashioned) the correct or usual way to do something synonym procedure
- What's the drill for claiming expenses?
Extra Examples- Usually a midwife was present: if not, Mother knew the drill.
- [uncountable] a type of strong cotton cloth
- [countable] a machine for planting seeds in rows
- a seed drill
Word Originnoun senses 1 to 5 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’.
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