† breast drilln.1
Agriculture. Obsolete. rare.
A seed drill pushed by the operator using the chest, in the manner of a breast plough.
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1789 Ann. Agric. 12 143 The breast drill is very useful for gardeners, &c. to drill early pease, mustard, cress, onions, &c. &c...being capable of the variation, as the drill plough, but requires the land harrowed fine.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2020).
breast drilln.2
/ˈbrɛs(t) drɪl/, U.S. /ˈbrɛs(t) ˌdrɪl/ A hand drill fitted with a backplate, against which the operator's chest is pressed when in use as a means of applying greater pressure to the bit. Cf. French brace n. at French adj. and n. Compounds 1b.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > piercing or boring tools > [noun] > drill > breast-drills
breast drill1815
French brace1846
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 21 The disadvantage of its shaking a little is not of so much moment as in the breast drill.
1996 N.Y. Times 13 Oct. s11/6 There are the tools in my workshop that were gifts from Vic, a wood lathe, a wonderful old hand-powered breast drill, an assortment of knives and chisels.
2001 C. H. Wendel Encycl. Antique Tools & Machinery 62/2 With the development of the battery-powered drill in the past few years, the breast drill is used very little today.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2020; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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