- 1 [countable] 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) Wordfinderdentistanaesthetic, cavity, check-up, crown, dentist, dentures, drill, extract, filling, hygienist
- 2[countable, uncountable] a way of learning something by means of repeated exercises
- 3[countable, uncountable] a practice of what to do in an emergency, for example if there is a fire a fire drill
- 4[uncountable] military training in marching, the use of weapons, etc. rifle drill
- 5the drill [singular] (old-fashioned) the correct or usual way to do something synonym procedure What's the drill for claiming expenses?
- 6 [uncountable] a type of strong cotton cloth
- 7[countable] a machine for planting seeds in rows 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’.Extra examples The school has a fire drill once a week. Usually a midwife was present: if not, Mother knew the drill. Air-raid drills and evacuation procedures have been practised. There’ll be a fire drill sometime this morning.
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