Drill

Drill is a stout, hard-wearing cotton twill, heavier than shirting and lighter than canvas, woven with a clear steep diagonal. Its name records its construction: the German Drillich and Latin trilix both mean three threads, the warp-dominant interlacing that gives the cloth its density. Undyed drill clothed empires in the tropics, dyed khaki it became the British military standard, and in the workwear of the twentieth century it survives in everything from chef whites to safari jackets.