drill
verb/drɪl/
/drɪl/
Verb Forms
Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they drill | /drɪl/ /drɪl/ |
| he / she / it drills | /drɪlz/ /drɪlz/ |
| past simple drilled | /drɪld/ /drɪld/ |
| past participle drilled | /drɪld/ /drɪld/ |
| -ing form drilling | /ˈdrɪlɪŋ/ /ˈdrɪlɪŋ/ |
- [transitive, intransitive] to make a hole in something, using a drill
- drill something Drill a series of holes in the frame.
- The dentist started drilling my tooth.
- drill (through something) He drilled through the wall by mistake.
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- [intransitive] drill (for something) to try to get oil or water by drilling in the ground or sea bed
- They're drilling for oil off the Irish coast.
- [transitive] to teach somebody to do something by making them repeat it a lot of times
- drill somebody to do something The children were drilled to leave the classroom quickly when the fire bell rang.
- drill somebody a well-drilled team
- drill somebody in something Recruits are drilled in basic techniques over the five-day course.
- Recruits were thoroughly drilled in all aspects of military procedure.
- [transitive] drill somebody to train soldiers to perform military actions
- The soldiers were being drilled outside the barracks.
- [transitive] drill something + adv./prep. to hit or kick a ball hard and in a straight line
- She drilled the ball into the back of the net.
Word Originverb early 17th cent.: from Middle Dutch drillen ‘bore, turn in a circle’.
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drill