English
pill
see also: Pill
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /pɪl/, [pʰɪɫ]
Noun

pill (plural pills)

  1. A small, usually round or cylindrical object designed for easy swallowing, usually containing some sort of medication.
    • 1864, Benjamin Ellis, The Medical Formulary
      Take two pills every hour in the apyrexia of intermittent fever, until eight are taken.
  2. (informal, uncountable, definite, i.e. used with "the") Contraceptive medication, usually in the form of a pill to be taken by a woman; an oral contraceptive pill.
    Jane went on the pill when she left for college.
    She got pregnant one month after going off the pill.
  3. (slang) A comical or entertaining person.
  4. (slang) A contemptible, annoying, or unpleasant person.
    • 2000, Susan Isaacs, Shining Through
      Instead, I saw a woman in her mid-fifties, who was a real pill; while all the others had managed a decent “So pleased,” or even a plain “Hello,” Ginger just inclined her head, as if she was doing a Queen Mary imitation.
  5. (informal) A small piece of any substance, for example a ball of fibres formed on the surface of a textile by rubbing.
    • 1999, Wally Lamb, I Know This Much Is True
      One sleeve, threadbare and loaded with what my mother called “sweater pills,” hung halfway to the floor.
  6. (archaic, baseball slang) A baseball.
    • 1931, Canadian National Magazine
      "Strike two!" bawled the umpire. I threw the pill back to Tom with a heart which drummed above the noise of the rooters along the side lines.
    • 2002, John Klima, Pitched Battle: 35 of Baseball's Greatest Duels from the Mound
      Mr. Fisher contributed to the Sox effort when he threw the pill past second baseman Rath after Felsch hit him a comebacker.
  7. (firearms, slang) A bullet (projectile).
  8. (GUI) A rounded rectangle indicating the tag or category that an item belongs to.
Synonyms
  • (small object for swallowing) tablet
  • (bullet) cap
Translations Translations
  • French: pilule, pilule contraceptive
  • German: Pille
  • Portuguese: pílula
  • Russian: противозача́точная табле́тка
  • Spanish: pastilla, pastilla anticonceptiva, píldora, píldora anticonceptiva
Translations
  • Russian: ка́тышек
Translations Verb

pill (pills, present participle pilling; past and past participle pilled)

  1. (intransitive, textiles) Of a woven fabric surface, to form small matted balls of fiber.
    • 1997, Jo Sharp, Knitted Sweater Style: Inspirations in Color
      During processing, inferior short fibers (which can cause pilling and itching) are removed to enhance the natural softness of the yarn and to improve its wash-and-wear performance.
  2. To form into the shape of a pill.
    Pilling is a skill rarely used by modern pharmacists.
  3. To medicate with pills.
    She pills herself with all sorts of herbal medicines.
Translations
  • French: boulocher
  • Russian: ска́тываться
Verb

pill (pills, present participle pilling; past and past participle pilled)

  1. (obsolete) To peel; to remove the outer layer of hair, skin, or bark.
  2. To peel; to make by removing the skin.
    • Bible, Book of Genesis xxx. 37
      [Jacob] pilled white streaks […] in the rods.
  3. To be peeled; to peel off in flakes.
  4. (obsolete) To pillage; to despoil or impoverish.
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/MaloryWks2/1:23.4?rgn=div2;view=fulltext chapter iiij], in Le Morte Darthur, book XXI:
      So syr Lucan departed for he was greuously wounded in many places And so as he yede he sawe and herkened by the mone lyght how that pyllars and robbers were comen in to the felde To pylle and robbe many a ful noble knyghte of brochys and bedys of many a good rynge & of many a ryche Iewel / and who that were not deed al oute
Noun

pill (plural pills)

  1. (obsolete) The peel or skin.
    • Some be covered over with crusts, or hard pills, as the locusts.
    • 1682, A perfect school of Instructions for the Officers of the Mouth
      To make Sallet of Lemon pill, or green Citron. You must have your Lemon Pill preserved very green, Rasp it into a Dish, and raise it up lightly with a Fork […]
Noun

pill (plural pills)

  1. (now UK regional) An inlet on the coast; a small tidal pool or bay.
Pill
Proper noun
  1. A village in North Somerset, England.
Proper noun
  1. A municipality in Tyrol, Austria.


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