Dress - Drill

Prev Next

And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it. Gen. ii. 15.
[ Webster]

When he dresseth the lamps he shall burn incense. Ex. xxx. 7.
[ Webster]

Three hundred horses . . . smoothly dressed. Dryden.
[ Webster]

Dressing their hair with the white sea flower. Tennyson.
[ Webster]

If he felt obliged to expostulate, he might have dressed his censures in a kinder form. Carlyle.

(b) To cut to proper dimensions, or give proper shape to, as to a tool by hammering; also, to smooth or finish.

(c) To put in proper condition by appareling, as the body; to put clothes upon; to apparel; to invest with garments or rich decorations; to clothe; to deck.
[ Webster]

Dressed myself in such humility. Shak.
[ Webster]

Prove that ever Idress myself handsome till thy return. Shak.

(d) To break and train for use, as a horse or other animal.
[ Webster]

Coloq. To dress up or Coloq. To dress out , to dress elaborately, artificially, or pompously. “You see very often a king of England or France dressed up like a Julius Cæsar.” Addison. -- Coloq. To dress a ship (Naut.), to ornament her by hoisting the national colors at the peak and mastheads, and setting the jack forward; when dressed full, the signal flags and pennants are added. Ham. Nav. Encyc.

Syn. -- To attire; apparel; clothe; accouter; array; robe; rig; trim; deck; adorn; embellish.
[ Webster]

Dress, v. i. 1. (Mil.) To arrange one's self in due position in a line of soldiers; -- the word of command to form alignment in ranks; as, Dress right, dress!
[ Webster]

2. To clothe or apparel one's self; to put on one's garments; to pay particular regard to dress; as, to dress quickly. “To dress for a ball.” Latham.
[ Webster]

To flaunt, to dress, to dance, to thrum. Tennyson.
[ Webster]

Coloq. To dress to the right , Coloq. To dress to the left , Coloq. To dress on the center (Mil.), to form alignment with reference to the soldier on the extreme right, or in the center, of the rank, who serves as a guide.
[ Webster]

Dress, n. 1. That which is used as the covering or ornament of the body; clothes; garments; habit; apparel. “In your soldier's dress.” Shak.
[ Webster]

2. A lady's gown; as, silk or a velvet dress.
[ Webster]

3. Attention to apparel, or skill in adjusting it.
[ Webster]

Men of pleasure, dress, and gallantry. Pope.
[ Webster]

4. (Milling) The system of furrows on the face of a millstone. Knight.
[ Webster]

Coloq. Dress parade (Mil.), a parade in full uniform for review.
[ Webster]

dressage n. maneuvers of a horse in response to body signals by the rider.
[WordNet 1.5]

Dress circle. A gallery or balcony in a theater, generally the first above the floor, in which originally dress clothes were customarily worn.
[Webster Suppl.]

Dress coat (?). A coat with skirts behind only, as distinct from the frock coat, of which the skirts surround the body. It is worn on occasions of ceremony. The dress coat of officers of the United States army is a full-skirted frock coat.
[ Webster]

dressed adj. 1. same as .
Syn. -- appareled, attired, clad, garbed, garmented, habilimented, robed.
[WordNet 1.5 +PJC]

2. covered with medication or a bandage ; -- of wounds.
Syn. -- bandaged.
[WordNet 1.5 +PJC]

3. trim and smooth; -- of lumber or stone.
Syn. -- polished.
[WordNet 1.5 +PJC]

dressed to kill pred. adj. attired in strikingly attractive clothing; -- usually of women.
[PJC]

dressed-up adj. attired in fancy or formal clothing. [Narrower terms: dressed to kill(predicate)]
Syn. -- dressed to the nines(predicate), dolled up, spruced up, spiffed up.
[WordNet 1.5]

dresser (?), n. 1. One who dresses; one who put in order or makes ready for use; one who on clothes or ornaments.
[ Webster]

2. (Mining) A kind of pick for shaping large coal.
[ Webster]

3. An assistant in a hospital, whose office it is to dress wounds, sores, etc.
[ Webster]

4. [F. dressoir. See , v. t.] (a) A table or bench on which meat and other things are dressed, or prepared for use. (b) A cupboard or set of shelves to receive dishes and cooking utensils.
[ Webster]

The pewter plates on the dresser
Caught and reflected the flame, as shields of armies the sunshine.
Longfellow.
[ Webster]

Dresser, n. [F. dressoir. See , v. t.] A piece of chamber furniture consisting of a chest of drawers, or bureau, with a mirror. [U. S.]
[Webster Suppl.]

Dress goods (?). A term applied to fabrics for the gowns of women and girls; -- most commonly to fabrics of mixed materials, but also applicable to silks, printed linens, and calicoes.
[ Webster]

Dressiness (?), n. The state of being dressy.
[ Webster]

Dressing, n. 1. Dress; raiment; especially, ornamental habiliment or attire. B. Jonson.
[ Webster]

2. (Surg.) An application (a remedy, bandage, etc.) to cover a sore or wound. Wiseman.
[ Webster]

3. Manure or compost over land. When it remains on the surface, it is called a top-dressing.
[ Webster]

4. (Cookery) (a) A preparation, such as a sauce, to flavor food for eating; a condiment; as, a dressing for salad. (b) The stuffing of fowls, pigs, etc.; forcemeat.
[ Webster]

5. Gum, starch, and the like, used in stiffening or finishing silk, linen, and other fabrics.
[ Webster]

6. An ornamental finish, as a molding around doors, windows, or on a ceiling, etc.
[ Webster]

7. Castigation; scolding; -- often with down. [Colloq.]
[ Webster]

Coloq. Dressing case , a case of toilet utensils. -- Coloq. Dressing forceps , a variety of forceps, shaped like a pair of scissors, used in dressing wounds. -- Coloq. Dressing gown , a light gown, such as is used by a person while dressing; a study gown. -- Coloq. Dressing room , an apartment appropriated for making one's toilet. -- Coloq. Top-dressing , manure or compost spread over land and not worked into the soil.
[ Webster]

Dressing table, n. a table, usually having a vertical back piece containing a mirror, at which a person may sit while dressing or applying makeup, and on which articles for the toilet stand. It often has drawers for toiletries, clothing, or accessories. It is also called a vanity or vanity table.
[PJC]

Dressmaker (?), n. A maker of gowns, or similar garments; a mantuamaker.
[ Webster]

Dressmaking, n. The art, process, or occupation, of making dresses.
[ Webster]

Dressy (?), a. Showy in dress; attentive to dress.
[ Webster]

A dressy flaunting maidservant. T. Hook.
[ Webster]

A neat, dressy gentleman in black. W. Irving.
[ Webster]

Drest (?), p. p. of .
[ Webster]

Dretch (?), v. t. & i. See . [Obs.]
[ Webster]

Dreul (?), v. i. To drool. [Obs.]
[ Webster]

Drevil (?), n. A fool; a drudge. See .
[ Webster]

Drew (?), imp. of .
[ Webster]

Drey (?), n. A squirrel's nest. See . [Obs.]
[ Webster]

Dreye (?), a. Dry. [Obs.] Chaucer.
[ Webster]

Dreynte (?), imp., Dreynt (�), p. p., of to drown. [Obs.] Chaucer.
[ Webster]

Drib (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dribbed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Dribbing.] [Cf. .] To do by little and little; as: (a) To cut off by a little at a time; to crop. (b) To appropriate unlawfully; to filch; to defalcate.
[ Webster]

He who drives their bargain dribs a part. Dryden.

(c) To lead along step by step; to entice.
[ Webster]

With daily lies she dribs thee into cost. Dryden.
[ Webster]

Drib (?), v. t. & i. (Archery) To shoot (a shaft) so as to pierce on the descent. [Obs.] Sir P. Sidney.
[ Webster]

Drib, n. 1. A drop. [Obs.] Swift.
[ Webster]

2. a small portion or small amount of anything; -- used mostly in the phrase dribs and drabs.
[ Webster]

Dribber (?), n. One who dribs; one who shoots weakly or badly. [Obs.] Ascham.
[ Webster]

Dribble (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Dribbled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Dribbing (?).] [Freq. of drib, which is a variant of drip.] 1. To fall in drops or small drops, or in a quick succession of drops; as, water dribbles from the eaves.
[ Webster]

2. To slaver, as a child or an idiot; to drivel.
[ Webster]

3. To fall weakly and slowly. [Obs.] “The dribbling dart of love.” Shak. (Meas. for Meas. , i. 3, 2). [Perhaps an error for dribbing.]
[ Webster]

4. In basketball, football and similar games, to dribble{2} the ball.
[Webster Suppl.]

5. To live or pass one's time in a trivial fashion.
[Webster Suppl.]

Dribble, v. t. 1. To let fall in drops.
[ Webster]

Let the cook . . . dribble it all the way upstairs. Swift.
[ Webster]

2. In basketball and various other games, to propel (the ball) by successive slight hits or kicks so as to keep it always in control.
[Webster Suppl.]

Dribble, n. 1. A drizzling shower; a falling or leaking in drops. [Colloq.]
[ Webster]

2. An act of dribbling{2} a ball.
[Webster Suppl.]

Dribbler (?), n. One who dribbles.

{ Dribblet (?), Driblet (?), } n. [From .] A small piece or part; a small sum; a small quantity of money in making up a sum; as, the money was paid in dribblets.
[ Webster]

When made up in dribblets, as they could, their best securities were at an interest of twelve per cent. Burke.
[ Webster]

Drie (?), v. t. [See .] To endure. [Obs.]
[ Webster]

So causeless such drede for to drie. Chaucer.
[ Webster]

Dried (drīd), imp. & p. p. of . Also adj.; as, dried apples.
[ Webster]

dried-out adj. thoroughly dried; having no moisture remaining.
Syn. -- dehydrated, desiccated.
[WordNet 1.5 +PJC]

dried-up adj. wrinkled or cracked from drying.
Syn. -- sere, sear, shriveled, withered.
[WordNet 1.5]

2. having its water supply exhausted.
[WordNet 1.5]

Drier (?), n. 1. One who, or that which, dries; that which may expel or absorb moisture; a desiccative; as, the sun and a northwesterly wind are great driers of the earth.
[ Webster]

2. (Paint.) Drying oil; a substance mingled with the oil used in oil painting to make it dry quickly.

Drier, compar., Driest, superl., of , a.
[ Webster]

Drift (?), n. [From ; akin to LG. & D. drift a driving, Icel. drift snowdrift, Dan. drift, impulse, drove, herd, pasture, common, G. trift pasturage, drove. See .] 1. A driving; a violent movement.
[ Webster]

The dragon drew him [self] away with drift of his wings. King Alisaunder (1332).
[ Webster]

2. The act or motion of drifting; the force which impels or drives; an overpowering influence or impulse.
[ Webster]

A bad man, being under the drift of any passion, will follow the impulse of it till something interpose. South.
[ Webster]

3. Course or direction along which anything is driven; setting. “Our drift was south.” Hakluyt.
[ Webster]

4. The tendency of an act, argument, course of conduct, or the like; object aimed at or intended; intention; hence, also, import or meaning of a sentence or discourse; aim.
[ Webster]

He has made the drift of the whole poem a compliment on his country in general. Addison.
[ Webster]

Now thou knowest my drift. Sir W. Scott.
[ Webster]

5. That which is driven, forced, or urged along; as: (a) Anything driven at random. “Some log . . . a useless drift.” Dryden. (b) A mass of matter which has been driven or forced onward together in a body, or thrown together in a heap, etc., esp. by wind or water; as, a drift of snow, of ice, of sand, and the like.
[ Webster]

Drifts of rising dust involve the sky. Pope.
[ Webster]

We got the brig a good bed in the rushing drift [of ice]. Kane.

(c) A drove or flock, as of cattle, sheep, birds. [Obs.]
[ Webster]

Cattle coming over the bridge (with their great drift doing much damage to the high ways). Fuller.
[ Webster]

6. (Arch.) The horizontal thrust or pressure of an arch or vault upon the abutments. [R.] Knight.
[ Webster]

7. (Geol.) A collection of loose earth and rocks, or boulders, which have been distributed over large portions of the earth's surface, especially in latitudes north of forty degrees, by the agency of ice.
[ Webster]

8. In South Africa, a ford in a river.
[ Webster]

9. (Mech.) A slightly tapered tool of steel for enlarging or shaping a hole in metal, by being forced or driven into or through it; a broach.
[ Webster]

10. (Mil.) (a) A tool used in driving down compactly the composition contained in a rocket, or like firework. (b) A deviation from the line of fire, peculiar to oblong projectiles.
[ Webster]

11. (Mining) A passage driven or cut between shaft and shaft; a driftway; a small subterranean gallery; an adit or tunnel.
[ Webster]

12. (Naut.) (a) The distance through which a current flows in a given time. (b) The angle which the line of a ship's motion makes with the meridian, in drifting. (c) The distance to which a vessel is carried off from her desired course by the wind, currents, or other causes. (d) The place in a deep-waisted vessel where the sheer is raised and the rail is cut off, and usually terminated with a scroll, or driftpiece. (e) The distance between the two blocks of a tackle.
[ Webster]

13. The difference between the size of a bolt and the hole into which it is driven, or between the circumference of a hoop and that of the mast on which it is to be driven.
[ Webster]

14. (Phys. Geog.) One of the slower movements of oceanic circulation; a general tendency of the water, subject to occasional or frequent diversion or reversal by the wind; as, the easterly drift of the North Pacific.
[Webster Suppl.]

15. (Aëronautics) The horizontal component of the pressure of the air on the sustaining surfaces of a flying machine. The lift is the corresponding vertical component, which sustains the machine in the air.
[Webster Suppl.]

Drift is used also either adjectively or as the first part of a compound. See , a.
[ Webster]

Coloq. Drift of the forest (O. Eng. Law), an examination or view of the cattle in a forest, in order to see whose they are, whether they are commonable, and to determine whether or not the forest is surcharged. Burrill. [ Webster] -- Coloq. continental drift (Geology), the very slow (ca. 1-5 cm per year) movement of the continents and parts of continents relative to each other and to the points of upwelling of magma in the viscous layers beneath the continents; -- causing, for example, the opening of the South Atlantic Ocean by the movement of Africa and South America away from each other. See also .
[PJC]

Drift, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Drifted; p. pr. & vb. n. Drifting.] 1. To float or be driven along by, or as by, a current of water or air; as, the ship drifted astern; a raft drifted ashore; the balloon drifts slowly east.
[ Webster]

We drifted o'er the harbor bar. Coleridge.
[ Webster]

2. To accumulate in heaps by the force of wind; to be driven into heaps; as, snow or sand drifts.
[ Webster]

3. (mining) to make a drift; to examine a vein or ledge for the purpose of ascertaining the presence of metals or ores; to follow a vein; to prospect. [U.S.]
[ Webster]

Drift (?), v. t. 1. To drive or carry, as currents do a floating body. J. H. Newman.
[ Webster]

2. To drive into heaps; as, a current of wind drifts snow or sand.
[ Webster]

3. (Mach.) To enlarge or shape, as a hole, with a drift.
[ Webster]

Drift, a. That causes drifting or that is drifted; movable by wind or currents; as, drift currents; drift ice; drift mud. Kane.
[ Webster]

Coloq. Drift anchor . See , and also Drag sail, under , n. -- Coloq. Drift epoch (Geol.), the glacial epoch. -- Coloq. Drift net , a kind of fishing net. -- Coloq. Drift sail . Same as Drag sail. See under , n.
[ Webster]

Driftage (?), n. 1. Deviation from a ship's course due to leeway.
[ Webster]

2. Anything that drifts.
[ Webster]

Driftbolt (?), n. A bolt for driving out other bolts.
[ Webster]

Driftless, a. Having no drift or direction; without aim; purposeless.
[ Webster]

Driftpiece (?), n. (Shipbuilding) An upright or curved piece of timber connecting the plank sheer with the gunwale; also, a scroll terminating a rail.
[ Webster]

Driftpin (?), n. (Mech.) A smooth drift. See , n., 9.
[ Webster]

Driftway (?), n. 1. A common way, road, or path, for driving cattle. Cowell. Burrill.
[ Webster]

2. (Mining) Same as , .
[ Webster]

Driftweed (?), n. Seaweed drifted to the shore by the wind. Darwin.
[ Webster]

Driftwind (?), n. A driving wind; a wind that drives snow, sand, etc., into heaps. Beau. & Fl.
[ Webster]

Driftwood (?), n. 1. Wood drifted or floated by water.
[ Webster]

2. Fig.: Whatever is drifting or floating as on water.
[ Webster]

The current of humanity, with its heavy proportion of very useless driftwood. New Your Times.
[ Webster]

Drifty (?), a. Full of drifts; tending to form drifts, as snow, and the like.
[ Webster]

Drill (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Drilled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Drilling.] [D. drillen to bore, drill (soldiers); probably akin to AS. pyrlian, pyrelian, to pierce. See .] 1. To pierce or bore with a drill, or a with a drill; to perforate; as, to drill a hole into a rock; to drill a piece of metal.
[ Webster]

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.
[ Webster]

He [Frederic the Great] drilled his people, as he drilled his grenadiers. Macaulay.
[ Webster]

Drill, v. i. To practice an exercise or exercises; to train one's self.
[ Webster]

Drill, n. 1. An instrument with an edged or pointed end used for making holes in hard substances; strictly, a tool that cuts with its end, by revolving, as in drilling metals, or by a succession of blows, as in drilling stone; also, a drill press.
[ Webster]

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.
[ Webster]

3. Any exercise, physical or mental, enforced with regularity and by constant repetition; as, a severe drill in Latin grammar.
[ Webster]

4. (Zoöl.) 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.
[ Webster]

Coloq. Bow drill , Coloq. Breast drill . See under , . -- Coloq. Cotter drill , or Coloq. Traverse drill , a machine tool for drilling slots. -- Coloq. Diamond drill . See under . -- Coloq. Drill jig . See under . -- Coloq. Drill pin , the pin in a lock which enters the hollow stem of the key. -- Coloq. 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. -- Coloq. Vertical drill , a drill press.
[ Webster]

Drill, v. t. [Cf. to trickle, , , and W. rhillio to put in a row, drill.] 1. To cause to flow in drills or rills or by trickling; to drain by trickling; as, waters drilled through a sandy stratum. [R.] Thomson.
[ Webster]

2. To sow, as seeds, by dribbling them along a furrow or in a row, like a trickling rill of water.
[ Webster]

3. To entice; to allure from step; to decoy; -- with on. [Obs.]
[ Webster]

See drilled him on to five-fifty. Addison.
[ Webster]

4. To cause to slip or waste away by degrees. [Obs.]
[ Webster]

This accident hath drilled away the whole summer. Swift.
[ Webster]

Drill, v. i. 1. To trickle. [Obs. or R.] Sandys.
[ Webster]

2. To sow in drills.
[ Webster]

Drill, n. 1. A small trickling stream; a rill. [Obs.]
[ Webster]

Springs through the pleasant meadows pour their drills. Sandys.
[ Webster]

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.
[ Webster]

Prev Next

Concept Explore Home

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z