"pierce or make a hole in with a drill or similar tool," c. 1600 (implied in drilling), from Dutch drillen "to bore (a hole), turn around, whirl," from Proto-Germanic *thr- (source also of Middle High German drillen "to turn, round off, bore," Old English þyrel "hole"), from PIE root *tere- (1) "to rub, turn," with derivatives referring to twisting, boring, and drilling. Related: Drilled, drilling. Compare thrill, the native English form of the word. Drill-press "drilling machine for boring holes in metal" is by 1850.

"to instruct in military exercise," 1620s (a sense also found in Dutch drillen and the Danish and German cognates), probably from drill (v.1) on the notion of troops "turning" in maneuvers. Related: Drilled, drilling.

As a noun, "act of training soldiers in military tactics," 1630s; the extended sense of "the agreed-upon procedure" is by 1940. Drill-sergeant "non-commissioned officer who instructs soldiers in their duties and trains them in military movements" is by 1760. Drill-master "one who gives practical instructions in military tactics" is by 1766.

1913, in photography, etc.; see close (adv.) + up (adv.).

1722, originally nautical, also close-fights, "bulkheads fore and aft for men to stand behind in close engagements to fire on the enemy," it reflects the confusion of close (v.) and close (adj.); "now understood of proximity, but orig. 'closed' space on ship-board where last stand could be made against boarders" [Weekley]. Compare also closed-minded (1880s), a variant of close-minded, as if "shut" rather than "tight," also closed-fisted, occasional variant of close-fisted "stingy."

in restaurants, indicating dishes to be prepared and served up quickly, by 1897, from the adverbial expression in short order "rapidly, with no fuss;" see short (adj.) + order (n.).

1630s, "to arrange beforehand," from pre- + order (v.). Marked in OED 2nd ed. as "rare." Related: Pre-ordered; pre-ordering.

1875, from mail (n.1) + order. Before television and the internet, the bane of retailers and shop-owners.

The origin, foundation and principle of mail order trading is universally recognized as wrong. It was conceived in iniquity and brought forth in despair as the world's greatest destructive medium. Mail Order Trading was born in the brain of knaves and thieves who fired their building for insurance profits, then sold the salvaged and damaged stock to the unsuspecting sons of man in distant territory. [Thomas J. Sullivan, "Merchants and Manufacturers on Trial," Chicago, 1914]

1802, "an order, payable on sight, issued at one post office and payable at another," from money + order (n.) in the business sense.

1865, originally a device for making fire by the twirled stick method, from fire (n.) + drill (n.1). Meaning "rehearsal of what to do in a fire" is from 1884 (originally it also involved fighting the fire), from drill (n.) in the "agreed-upon procedure" sense (see drill (v.)).

also jackhammer, "portable rock-drill worked by compressed air," 1913, from jack (n.) + hammer (n.). As a verb by 1947. Related: Jack-hammered; jack-hammering.