Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
not a drill

not a drill

1 7.7
A real emergency, not a practice or test
  • idiom
translation icon : no es un simulacro
  • Attention everyone, this is not a drill; please evacuate immediately!

Examples

  • Emergency services announced that this is not a drill.

  • He shouted that it was not a drill when he saw the floodwaters rising.

  • Listen carefully—this is not a drill; there is an actual fire in the building.

  • When the security sirens blared, we quickly realized it was not a drill.

  • This is not a drill!

  • The teacher announced, 'This is not a drill, we need to take shelter now!'

  • During the emergency, the captain declared, 'This is not a drill, all crew report to your stations!'

Antonyms

practice
585 1.6

Doing something again and again to become better at it

drill
257 3.4

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

How Real

not a drill
1 7.7
real-world
85 4.1
drill
257 3.4
practice
585 1.6
rehearsal
296 3.0
simulation
  • Specialized
199 4.7

Surface Forms

not a drill main

Morphology

not + a + drill

The phrase's meaning ('this situation is real, not a practice') is a straightforward negation of 'drill' in the sense of a practice or exercise; a learner who knows 'not' and 'drill' (as 'repeated exercise') can infer that it means 'not an exercise' and therefore real/urgent. This compositional logic is transparent and parallels constructions in many other languages, so a B1 learner familiar with the constituent senses should understand it.

Etymology

Not a drill comes from emergency practice alarms called drills. If someone says 'not a drill', they mean it is not 'practice' but 'real', so the phrase tells people the situation is serious.