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Webster 1913 Edition


Drill

Drill

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Drilled
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Drilling
.]
[D.
drillen
to bore, drill (soldiers); probably akin to AS.
pyrlian
,
pyrelian
, to pierce. See
Thrill
.]
1.
To pierce or bore with a drill, or a with a drill; to perforate;
as, to
drill
a hole into a rock; to
drill
a piece of metal.
2.
To train in the military art; to exercise diligently, as soldiers, in military evolutions and exercises; hence, to instruct thoroughly in the rudiments of any art or branch of knowledge; to discipline.
He [Frederic the Great]
drilled
his people, as he
drilled
his grenadiers.
Macaulay.

Drill

,
Verb.
I.
To practice an exercise or exercises; to train one’s self.

Drill

,
Noun.
1.
An instrument with an edged or pointed end used for making holes in hard substances; strictly, a tool that cuts with its end, by revolving, as in drilling metals, or by a succession of blows, as in drilling stone; also, a drill press.
2.
(Mil.)
The act or exercise of training soldiers in the military art, as in the manual of arms, in the execution of evolutions, and the like; hence, diligent and strict instruction and exercise in the rudiments and methods of any business; a kind or method of military exercises;
as, infantry
drill
; battalion
drill
; artillery
drill
.
3.
Any exercise, physical or mental, enforced with regularity and by constant repetition;
as, a severe
drill
in Latin grammar
.
4.
(Zool.)
A marine gastropod, of several species, which kills oysters and other bivalves by drilling holes through the shell. The most destructive kind is
Urosalpinx cinerea
.
Bow drill
,
Breast drill
.
See under
Bow
,
Breast
.
Cotter drill
, or
Traverse drill
,
a machine tool for drilling slots.
Diamond drill
.
See under
Diamond
.
Drill jig
.
See under
Jig
.
Drill pin
,
the pin in a lock which enters the hollow stem of the key.
Drill sergeant
(Mil.)
,
a noncommissioned officer whose office it is to instruct soldiers as to their duties, and to train them to military exercises and evolutions.
Vertical drill
,
a drill press.

Drill

,
Verb.
T.
[Cf.
Trill
to trickle,
Trickle
,
Dribble
, and W.
rhillio
to put in a row, drill.]
1.
To cause to flow in drills or rills or by trickling; to drain by trickling;
as, waters
drilled
through a sandy stratum
.
[R.]
Thomson.
2.
To sow, as seeds, by dribbling them along a furrow or in a row, like a trickling rill of water.
3.
To entice; to allure from step; to decoy; – with on.
[Obs.]
See
drilled
him on to five-fifty.
Addison.
4.
To cause to slip or waste away by degrees.
[Obs.]
This accident hath
drilled
away the whole summer.
Swift.

Drill

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To trickle.
[Obs. or R.]
Sandys.
2.
To sow in drills.

Drill

,
Noun.
1.
A small trickling stream; a rill.
[Obs.]
Springs through the pleasant meadows pour their
drills
.
Sandys.
2.
(Agr.)
(a)
An implement for making holes for sowing seed, and sometimes so formed as to contain seeds and drop them into the hole made.
(b)
A light furrow or channel made to put seed into sowing.
(c)
A row of seed sown in a furrow.
Drill is used adjectively, or as the first part of a compound; as, drill barrow or drill-barrow; drill husbandry; drill plow or drill-plow.
Drill barrow
,
a wheeled implement for planting seed in drills.
Drill bow
,
a small bow used for the purpose of rapidly turning a drill around which the bowstring takes a turn.
Drill harrow
,
a harrow used for stirring the ground between rows, or drills.
Drill plow
, or
Drill plough
,
a sort plow for sowing grain in drills.

Drill

,
Noun.
[Cf.
Mandrill
.]
(Zool.)
A large African baboon (
Cynocephalus leucophæus
).

Drill

,
Noun.
[Usually in
pl
.]
(Manuf.)
Same as
Drilling
.
Imperial drill
,
a linen fabric having two threads in the warp and three in the filling.

Webster 1828 Edition


Drill

DRILL

,
Verb.
T.
[G.]
1.
To pierce with a drill; to perforate by turning a sharp pointed instrument of a particular form; to bore and make a hole by turning an instrument. We say, to drill a hole through a piece of metal, or to drill a cannon.
2.
To draw on; to entice; to amuse and put off.
She drilled him on to five and fifty. [Not elegant.]
3.
To draw on from step to step. [Not elegant.]
4.
To draw through; to drain; as, waters drilled through a sandy stratum.
5.
In a military sense, to teach and train raw soldiers to their duty, by frequent exercise; a common and appropriate use of the word.
6.
In husbandry, to sow grain in rows, drills or channels.

DRILL

, v.t.
1.
To sow in drills.
2.
To flow gently.
3.
To muster, for exercise.

DRILL

,
Noun.
1.
A pointed instrument, used for boring holes, particularly in metals and other hard substances.
2.
An ape or baboon.
3.
The act of training soldiers to their duty.
4.
A small stream; now called a rill. [Drill is formed on the root of rill, G., a channel.]
5.
In husbandry, a row of grain, sowed by a drill-plow.