Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Diamond \Di"a*mond\ (?; 277), n. [OE. diamaund, diamaunt, F.
diamant, corrupted, fr. L. adamas, the hardest iron, steel,
diamond, Gr. ?. Perh. the corruption is due to the influence
of Gr. ? transparent. See {Adamant}, {Tame}.]
1. A precious stone or gem excelling in brilliancy and
beautiful play of prismatic colors, and remarkable for
extreme hardness.
Note: The diamond is native carbon in isometric crystals,
often octahedrons with rounded edges. It is usually
colorless, but some are yellow, green, blue, and even
black. It is the hardest substance known. The diamond
as found in nature (called a rough diamond) is cut, for
use in jewelry, into various forms with many reflecting
faces, or facets, by which its brilliancy is much
increased. See {Brilliant}, {Rose}. Diamonds are said
to be of the first water when very transparent, and of
the second or third water as the transparency
decreases.
2. A geometrical figure, consisting of four equal straight
lines, and having two of the interior angles acute and two
obtuse; a rhombus; a lozenge.
3. One of a suit of playing cards, stamped with the figure of
a diamond.
4. (Arch.) A pointed projection, like a four-sided pyramid,
used for ornament in lines or groups.
5. (Baseball) The infield; the square space, 90 feet on a
side, having the bases at its angles.
6. (Print.) The smallest kind of type in English printing,
except that called brilliant, which is seldom seen.
Note: [hand] This line is printed in the type called
{Diamond}.
{Black diamond}, coal; (Min.) See {Carbonado}.
{Bristol diamond}. See {Bristol stone}, under {Bristol}.
{Diamond beetle} (Zo["o]l.), a large South American weevil
({Entimus imperialis}), remarkable for its splendid luster
and colors, due to minute brilliant scales.
{Diamond bird} (Zo["o]l.), a small Australian bird
({Pardalotus punctatus}, family {Ampelid[ae]}.). It is
black, with white spots.
{Diamond drill} (Engin.), a rod or tube the end of which is
set with black diamonds; -- used for perforating hard
substances, esp. for boring in rock.
{Diamond finch} (Zo["o]l.), a small Australian sparrow, often
kept in a cage. Its sides are black, with conspicuous
white spots, and the rump is bright carmine.
{Diamond groove} (Iron Working), a groove of V-section in a
roll.
{Diamond mortar} (Chem.), a small steel mortar used for
pulverizing hard substances.
{Diamond-point tool}, a cutting tool whose point is
diamond-shaped.
{Diamond snake} (Zo["o]l.), a harmless snake of Australia
({Morelia spilotes}); the carpet snake.
{Glazier's diamond}, a small diamond set in a glazier's tool,
for cutting glass.
Drill \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.
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.
3. Any exercise, physical or mental, enforced with regularity
and by constant repetition; as, a severe drill in Latin
grammar.
4. (Zo["o]l.) 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}.
{Bow drill}, {Breast drill}. See under {Bow}, {Breast}.
{Cotter drill}, or {Traverse drill}, a machine tool for
drilling slots.
{Diamond drill}. See under {Diamond}.
{Drill jig}. See under {Jig}.
{Drill pin}, the pin in a lock which enters the hollow stem
of the key.
{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.
{Vertical drill}, a drill press.