1
as in piercing
to make a hole or series of holes in
the nerve-jangling sound when a dentist drills a tooth
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2
as in shooting
to strike with a missile from a gun
drilled the target from 100 yards away
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in planting
to put or set into the ground to grow
he drills soybeans in the same rows with corn
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Recent Examples of drilling
Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 26 Mar. 2026
End-to-end rush, fabulous deke on the goaltender, drilling it home with the net bulging as instant proof.
—Allan Mitchell, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2026
The visual of Christian Laettner drilling his turnaround, buzzer-beating jumper to defeat Pitino’s Kentucky Wildcats and send Duke to the 1992 Final Four remains omnipresent.
—Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 25 Mar. 2026
Other grass seeds twist as humidity changes, drilling seeds into the soil.
—Literary Hub, 25 Mar. 2026
On top of the pressures of climate change that upend food sources and natural ecological rhythms, the federal government has repeatedly signaled its intent to sell off public lands, prioritizing mining and drilling on them over their conservation.
—Shi En Kim, AZCentral.com, 20 Mar. 2026
Companies in Colorado are drilling horizontally up to 3 and 4 miles to reach the oil and gas while trying to avoid populated areas, Hill said.
—Judith Kohler, Denver Post, 18 Mar. 2026
At the back edge of a backyard, in a dead-end South Florida canal, Arthur Tiedeman is drilling holes into the face of a seawall his marine construction company recently installed.
—Nathan Rott, NPR, 17 Mar. 2026
For example, ExxonMobil repurchased $20 billion in shares and spent only $1 billion on exploration expenses in 2025, including the cost of drilling and increasing production.
—Chris Isidore, CNN Money, 16 Mar. 2026
Verb
Refineries differ somewhat from drilling in that they are partly concentrated in Texas (Houston, Beaumont, Corpus Christi, and Dallas) but also have a large presence in Los Angeles, Chicago, New Orleans, Minneapolis, San Francisco, and Bellingham, Wash.
—Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 26 Mar. 2026
End-to-end rush, fabulous deke on the goaltender, drilling it home with the net bulging as instant proof.
—Allan Mitchell, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2026
The visual of Christian Laettner drilling his turnaround, buzzer-beating jumper to defeat Pitino’s Kentucky Wildcats and send Duke to the 1992 Final Four remains omnipresent.
—Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 25 Mar. 2026
Other grass seeds twist as humidity changes, drilling seeds into the soil.
—Literary Hub, 25 Mar. 2026
On top of the pressures of climate change that upend food sources and natural ecological rhythms, the federal government has repeatedly signaled its intent to sell off public lands, prioritizing mining and drilling on them over their conservation.
—Shi En Kim, AZCentral.com, 20 Mar. 2026
Companies in Colorado are drilling horizontally up to 3 and 4 miles to reach the oil and gas while trying to avoid populated areas, Hill said.
—Judith Kohler, Denver Post, 18 Mar. 2026
At the back edge of a backyard, in a dead-end South Florida canal, Arthur Tiedeman is drilling holes into the face of a seawall his marine construction company recently installed.
—Nathan Rott, NPR, 17 Mar. 2026
For example, ExxonMobil repurchased $20 billion in shares and spent only $1 billion on exploration expenses in 2025, including the cost of drilling and increasing production.
—Chris Isidore, CNN Money, 16 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Drilling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/drilling. Accessed 30 Mar. 2026.
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