On Saturday, November 2, 2019 at 8:42:34 PM UTC-4, (;harles wrote:
When I drill a hole before inserting an anchor bolt: You say "I drilled a hole."

When I drill a hole before pulling a wire through it: You say "I drilled a hole."

When I drill a starter hole before using my jig saw: You say "I drilled a starter hole."

And, based upon your post, you knew that all along!

"...the most common interpretation of pre-drill is, in fact, to drill before driving a screw or nail..."

Context controls. The OP was, in fact, referring to drilling pilot holes - no need for "interpretation" at all.

A language has constructs, rules, if you will. Ostensibly, we were all taught such things as part of our education. To argue a point one needs reference to the rule as opposed to anecdote and references to one's subjective apprehension of what is 'common.'

"BTW...Is it pre-drill or predrill?"

According to Miriam Webster online, the later is preferred and the former will serve. Since neither makes any sense, why worry about the rule for hyphenation?

Is foreplay a synonym for predrill?

I'll ask SWMBO which term she prefers.