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What is the difference between practice and drill?

practice | drill | Synonyms |

Drill is a synonym of practice.



As nouns the difference between practice and drill

is that practice is repetition of an activity to improve skill while drill is a tool used to remove material so as to create a hole, typically by plunging a rotating cutting bit into a stationary workpiece.

As verbs the difference between practice and drill

is that practice is to repeat (an activity) as a way of improving one's skill in that activity while drill is to create (a hole) by removing material with a drill tool.

practice

Alternative forms

* (British) practise (used only for the verb )

Noun

(practices)
  • Repetition of an activity to improve skill.
  • He will need lots of practice with the lines before he performs them.
  • (uncountable) The ongoing pursuit of a craft or profession, particularly in medicine or the fine arts.
  • (countable) A place where a professional service is provided, such as a general practice.
  • She ran a thriving medical practice .
  • The observance of religious duties that a church requires of its members.
  • A customary action, habit, or behavior; a manner or routine.
  • It is the usual practice of employees there to wear neckties only when meeting with customers.
    It is good practice to check each door and window before leaving.
  • Actual operation or experiment, in contrast to theory.
  • That may work in theory, but will it work in practice ?
  • (legal) The form, manner, and order of conducting and carrying on suits and prosecutions through their various stages, according to the principles of law and the rules laid down by the courts.
  • This firm of solicitors is involved in family law practice .
  • Skilful or artful management; dexterity in contrivance or the use of means; stratagem; artifice.
  • * Sir Philip Sidney
  • He sought to have that by practice which he could not by prayer.
    (Francis Bacon)
  • (math) A easy and concise method of applying the rules of arithmetic to questions which occur in trade and business.
  • Usage notes

    British, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand English distinguish between practice'' (a noun) and ''practise (a verb), analogously with advice/advise. In American English, practice is commonly used for both forms, and this is also common in Canada.

    Synonyms

    * (improvement of skill) rehearsal, drill, exercise, training, workout * (customary action) custom, habit, routine, wont, wone * fashion, pattern, trick, way, dry run, trial

    Derived terms

    * general practice * overpractice * practice makes perfect * practice what one preaches * put into practice * sharp practice

    Verb

    (practic)
  • (US) To repeat (an activity) as a way of improving one's skill in that activity.
  • You should practice playing piano every day.
  • (US) To repeat an activity in this way.
  • If you want to speak French well, you need to practice .
  • (US) To perform or observe in a habitual fashion.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2012, month=March-April
  • , author=John T. Jost , title=Social Justice: Is It in Our Nature (and Our Future)? , volume=100, issue=2, page=162 , magazine=(American Scientist) citation , passage=He draws eclectically on studies of baboons, descriptive anthropological accounts of hunter-gatherer societies and, in a few cases, the fossil record. With this biological framework in place, Corning endeavors to show that the capitalist system as currently practiced in the United States and elsewhere is manifestly unfair.}}
    They gather to practice religion every Saturday.
  • (US) To pursue (a career, especially law, fine art or medicine).
  • She practiced law for forty years before retiring.
  • (intransitive, archaic, US) To conspire.
  • Usage notes

    * In sense "to repeat an activity as a way improving one's skill" this is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing) . See

    Derived terms

    * practiced * practicing

    drill

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To create (a hole) by removing material with a (tool).
  • Drill a small hole to start the screw in the right direction.
  • To practice, especially in a military context.
  • They drilled daily to learn the routine exactly.
  • (ergative) To cause to drill (practice); to train in military arts.
  • The sergeant was up by 6:00 every morning, drilling his troops.
  • * Macaulay
  • He [Frederic the Great] drilled his people, as he drilled his grenadiers.
  • To repeat an idea frequently in order to encourage someone to remember it.
  • The instructor drilled into us the importance of reading the instructions.
  • To investigate or examine something in more detail or at a different level
  • Drill deeper and you may find the underlying assumptions faulty.
  • To hit or kick with a lot of power.
  • * 2006 , Joe Coon, The Perfect Game ,
  • He did get their attention when he drilled the ball dead center into the hole for an opening birdie.
  • * 2007 , Craig Cowell, Muddy Sunday ,
  • Without compromising he drilled the ball home, leaving Dynamos' ill-fated keeper diving for fresh air.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2010 , date=December 29 , author=Chris Whyatt , title=Chelsea 1 - 0 Bolton , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=Bolton were then just inches from taking the lead, but the dangerous-looking Taylor drilled just wide after picking up a loose ball following Jose Bosingwa's poor attempted clearance.}}
  • (slang, vulgar) To have sexual intercourse with; to penetrate.
  • Is this going to take long? I've got a hot date to drill the flautist at the symphony tonight.'' - Brian Griffin, ''
  • To cause to flow in drills or rills or by trickling; to drain by trickling.
  • waters drilled through a sandy stratum
    (Thomson)
  • To sow (seeds) by dribbling them along a furrow or in a row.
  • (obsolete) To entice or allure; to decoy; with on .
  • * Addison
  • She drilled him on to five-and-fifty, and will drop him in his old age
  • (obsolete) To cause to slip or waste away by degrees.
  • * Jonathan Swift
  • This accident hath drilled away the whole summer.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A tool used to remove material so as to create a hole, typically by plunging a rotating cutting bit into a stationary workpiece.
  • The portion of a drilling tool that drives the bit.
  • An agricultural implement for making holes for sowing seed, and sometimes so formed as to contain seeds and drop them into the hole made.
  • A light furrow or channel made to put seed into, when sowing.
  • A row of seed sown in a furrow.
  • An activity done as an exercise or practice (especially a military exercise).
  • * , chapter=7
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=“[…] if you call my duds a ‘livery’ again there'll be trouble. It's bad enough to go around togged out like a life saver on a drill day, but I can stand that 'cause I'm paid for it. What I won't stand is to have them togs called a livery. […]”}}
  • (obsolete) A small trickling stream; a rill.
  • * Sandys
  • Springs through the pleasant meadows pour their drills .
  • Any of several molluscs, of the genus , that drill holes in the shells of other animals.
  • (Ocenebrinae)
    Derived terms
    * dental drill * dentist's drill * drill barrow * drill bow * drill harrow * drill plough, drill plow * drill sergeant

    Etymology 2

    Probably of African origin; compare mandrill.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An Old World monkey of West Africa, , similar in appearance to the mandrill, but lacking the colorful face.
  • Etymology 3

    From (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A strong, durable cotton fabric with a strong bias (diagonal) in the weave.
  • Derived terms
    * (l), (l)
    Synonyms
    * (l)