Synonyms of drilling

drilling 1 of 2

verb (1)

present participle of drill

1

as in piercing

to make a hole or series of holes in

the nerve-jangling sound when a dentist drills a tooth

Synonyms & Similar Words

• piercing
• punching
• poking
• perforating
• puncturing
• tapping
• boring
• holing
• riddling
• cutting
• penetrating
• excavating
• broaching
• breaking
• splitting
• slashing
• pricking
• grooving
• gouging
• hollowing
• prickling
• slitting
• rupturing
• notching
• burrowing (into)
• rending
• gashing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• filling
• sealing
• plugging
• patching

2

as in shooting

to strike with a missile from a gun

drilled the target from 100 yards away

Synonyms & Similar Words

• shooting
• plugging
• popping
• gunning
• killing
• destroying
• dropping
• slaughtering
• slaying
• bringing down
• picking off
• butchering
• firing (at)
• shooting down
• blowing away
• blazing
• peppering
• blasting (at)
• sniping (at)
• dispatching
• potshotting
• massacring
• felling
• decimating
• wiping out
• shotgunning
• pistoling
• annihilating
• blotting out
• machine-gunning
• icing
• doing in
• croaking
• tommy-gunning

drilling

2 of 2

verb (2)

present participle of drill

as in planting

to put or set into the ground to grow

he drills soybeans in the same rows with corn

Synonyms & Similar Words

• planting
• seeding
• putting in
• sowing
• replanting
• transplanting
• broadcasting
• bedding
• potting
• scattering
• reseeding
• overseeding

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• harvesting
• gathering
• reaping

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of drilling

Verb

Ultimately, the state and federal governments allocated $148 million to rebuild the town's treatment plant and help support their efforts to find other options, including drilling wells and reusing water. — ABC News, 13 Nov. 2026

After drilling fellow blueblood Kentucky by 20 points on Tuesday in front of a who’s-who of national media, Kansas Jayhawks basketball has dominated the college hoops conversation for the past few days. — Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 13 Nov. 2026

However, drilling at such depths comes with a lot of challenges. — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 12 Nov. 2026

After two kneel-downs by Williams, Santos delighted the crowd of 60,470 by drilling his second field goal of the night. — CBS News, 9 Nov. 2026

And in Honduras, Milexy Rodríguez lost 15 cows in 40 days when drought dried up her lagoon, rebuilding by drilling a well and diversifying. — Lys Arango, Vogue, 8 Nov. 2026

Guys are just drilling things, getting familiar with how guys play. — Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 3 Nov. 2026

Doncic came right back, drilling a three-pointer over Gary Payton II on the next possession and put his fingers on his lips and glared at the crowd. — Broderick Turner, Los Angeles Times, 31 Oct. 2026

Educators across the country are developing civics curricula that engage students in the practice of democracy, rather than drilling them in recitations of rights and procedures. — Trygve Throntveit, Christian Science Monitor, 28 Oct. 2026