Skip to main content
military drill

military drill

3 3.6
Training that teaches soldiers to march, move together, and use weapons
  • noun
  • /ˈmɪlɪˌtɛri drɪl/
translation icon : ejercicio militar
  • Every year, the army conducts a military drill to ensure all troops are adequately prepared for any future conflicts.
  • joint military drill
  • U.S.-South Korean military drill
  • Korean military drill

And it's like a paramilitary group that trains other settlers on military compact, give them weapons and do like military drills.

Examples

  • But I think part of it is it breaks me down in the same way that the military drills break me down.

  • Every year, the military drills followed the same pattern.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Addressing troops last week during the first military drill in a series.

    Blog text (11)
  • In many centers, drug users are held alongside homeless people, people with psychosocial disabilities, and street children, and are forced to perform military drills.

    Blog text (13)
  • Is it a coincidence that Russia hosted a massive Caucasus military drill, the Eurasian air defense exercises around incoming cruise missiles, and the recent testing of the nuclear strike force?

    Blog text (17)
  • Depending on the country, so-called treatment consists of a regime of military drills, forced labor, psychological and moral re-education, and shackling, caning, and beating.

    Blog text (13)
  • Afterward, the regiment sponsored holiday exercises, which featured a ritual reading of the Declaration of Independence, oratory, patriotic recitations and music, and military drills.

    Academic text (2000)
  • Barracks life, military drill, blind obedience to commands, however unjust and foolish they may be, and deliberate training for slaughter undermine respect for the individual, for democracy, and for human life.

    Academic text (2004)
  • During the training period, the soldiers participated in a military drill to practice their coordination and combat skills.

  • The military drill included numerous exercises that tested the soldiers' abilities to respond to various battlefield scenarios.

Synonyms

drill
vsmilitary drill
257 3.4

Repeated practice to improve a skill, like in school or the army

is the specific, systematic form used for marching, maneuvering, and weapons
military training
vsmilitary drill
16 3.4

To teach people the skills to be soldiers

is focused on systematic marching, maneuvering, and weapons practice
square-bashing
vsmilitary drill
  • Jargon
9.9

Repeated marching drills that soldiers do during basic training

is broader, covering marching plus maneuvering and weapons practice
close-order drill
vsmilitary drill
  • Specialized
8.4

Soldiers march shoulder to shoulder in a set formation for parades

focuses on practical training, not mainly ceremonial parade movements

How Intense

war game
  • Specialized
22 3.9
military drill
3 3.6
exercise
142 1.0
practice
585 1.6

Surface Forms

Morphology

military + drill

The meaning of 'military drill' is directly derived from combining 'military' (relating to soldiers) with 'drill' (a repeated exercise or training); together they denote training for military purposes. This adjective + noun composition is a straightforward, cross-linguistically common pattern and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

Military drill comes from the image of soldiers practising the same moves again and again, like a tool called a drill that works by repeating the same action. That's why military drill means 'regular training in marching, moving and the use of weapons'.