Drillable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Able to be pierced or created using a tool designed for hole-making
2. Suitable for undergoing an operation that involves boring or hollowing out surfaces or materials
3. Something that can be penetrated or opened by a drilling instrument

Etymology: "Drillable" is a plain formation: the verb "drill," meaning to bore holes with a tool, combined with the suffix "-able," which turns a verb into an adjective meaning "capable of being" the action named. So something drillable is something that can be drilled, whether that is rock, metal, or a wall prepared for a fixing. The suffix does most of the work here. "-able" comes from Latin "-abilis," attached to verbs to show possibility, and English has used it so freely for centuries that it can be added to almost any transitive verb. "Drillable" follows the same pattern as words like "washable" or "readable," so the word needs no special history beyond the two parts joining together.

Synonyms: permeable, excavatable

Antonyms: solid, impenetrable