Meanings
alternative common drill 'n' bass
- uncountableA style of electronic music with fast, loud percussion and harsh noises.
What the Squarepusher-type drill and bass artists have responded to and exaggerated ad absurdum is only one aspect of jungle: the music's complexity.
2013, Simon Reynolds, Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture, Routledge, →ISBN, page 3741 more example
The compositional applications of granulation run from stutters (tight repetitions at rhythmic or even pitched rates; think of Mantronix's Bassline (1985) or drill and bass), to disintegration and coalescence effects.
2010, Nicholas Collins, Nick Collins, Introduction to Computer Music, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 130Synonyms: fungle, spunk jazz
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA style of electronic music with fast, loud percussion and harsh noises.
Origin
From drill (“tool for boring”) (typically producing a loud, harsh noise) and drum and bass.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
drill and bass. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/drill%20and%20bass
“drill and bass.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/drill%20and%20bass. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “drill and bass,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/drill%20and%20bass.
Source: drill and bass on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.