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.
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.
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. (Zo["o]l.) 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 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.
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.
{Imperial drill}, a linen fabric having two threads in the
warp and three in the filling.