Carpet is fixed with small drills (9)

I believe the answer is:

practises

'drills' is the definition.
(I know this)

'carpet is fixed with small' is the wordplay.
'fixed with' is an anagram indicator.
'small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
'carpet'+'is'='carpetis'
'carpetis' anagrammed with 's' can make 'PRACTISES'.

(Another definition for practises that I've seen is " Rehearses".)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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