v. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

He [ Frederic the Great ] drilled his people, as he drilled his grenadiers. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To practice an exercise or exercises; to train one's self. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Any exercise, physical or mental, enforced with regularity and by constant repetition; as, a severe drill in Latin grammar. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To sow, as seeds, by dribbling them along a furrow or in a row, like a trickling rill of water. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To entice; to allure from step; to decoy; -- with on. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

See drilled him on to five-fifty. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To cause to slip or waste away by degrees. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

This accident hath drilled away the whole summer. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To trickle. [ Obs. or R. ] Sandys. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To sow in drills. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A small trickling stream; a rill. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Springs through the pleasant meadows pour their drills. Sandys. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Mandrill. ] (Zool.) A large African baboon (Cynocephalus leucophæus). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Usually in pl. ] (Manuf.) Same as Drilling. [ 1913 Webster ]

Imperial drill, a linen fabric having two threads in the warp and three in the filling. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, drills. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of using a drill in sowing seeds. [ 1913 Webster ]