drilling

Pluraldrillings (some meanings)

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of drill.

   The crew kept drilling into the bedrock all night.

   Drilling for oil offshore requires specialized rigs.

   Note

   Every sense of the verb drill passes through this form, not only the boring of holes. Soldiers keep drilling on a parade ground, a teacher keeps drilling vocabulary, an analyst goes drilling into the figures, and a striker is drilling the ball into the net. As a gerund it sits close to the noun for the process, but it still takes a direct object (drilling the wall), where the noun needs of (the drilling of the wall).

2. 2
   noununcountable

   The act or process of boring holes into a material using a rotating tool.

   The drilling reached a depth of two hundred feet by week's end.

   Offshore drilling poses significant environmental risks.

   Similarboring

3. 3
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A heavy, twilled fabric of linen or cotton, also known as drill.

   Like denim, but woven from linen or cotton in a tight diagonal pattern.

   The tailor chose a sturdy drilling for the uniform jackets.

   Drilling holds up well against repeated washing and hard wear.

4. 4
   nouncountable

   A long firearm built with three barrels, typically combining shotgun and rifle barrels.

   Like a Swiss Army knife of firearms, with different barrels for different game.

   A drilling lets a hunter switch between birdshot and a rifle round without changing guns.

   She inherited a finely engraved drilling from a German gunmaker.

   Note

   A borrowing that only looks English. It has nothing to do with boring holes. German Drilling means both "triplet" and a gun with three barrels, and English took over the gunmaker's sense. Its native homograph is spelled and pronounced the same, so context is what tells a reader which word is meant. Talk of barrels, birdshot or engraving points to the gun.

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