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

Researchers investigating the site believed by some to be Noah's Ark have just wrapped up their first full field season — drilling more than 60 feet beneath the site and collecting hundreds of samples now undergoing laboratory analysis. — Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 2 Oct. 2026

To determine the duration of the Chicxulub hydrothermal system, Pickersgill recovered samples at the site, drilling 1 km down. — Elizabeth Rayne, ArsTechnica, 30 Sep. 2026

However, drilling dense grids of boreholes in frozen soil to take samples of the ground below is expensive, disruptive and extremely labor intensive. — Ming Xiao, The Conversation, 29 Sep. 2026

Rivera also maintains that another purpose of the consulting agreement was a commercial effort to persuade Exxon to resume drilling for oil in Venezuela. — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 29 Sep. 2026

The company is drilling toward rock measuring 750°F (400°C), where each well could deliver up to 10 times the power of a conventional geothermal well operating at 390°F (200°C). — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 18 Sep. 2026

And the best part is that Stark didn't have to start drilling holes in the battery or remove half the motorcycle to achieve it. — New Atlas, 16 Sep. 2026

Julia is recruited by a study group drilling for the Putnam Test — a six-hour math competition for undergraduates considered the most prestigious in the world. — Matt Donnelly, Variety, 16 Sep. 2026

However, using methane created from electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction in a net-zero process rather than drilling for it could help during the transition from fossil fuels to renewable resources. — Keith Cooper, Space.com, 15 Sep. 2026