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til

1 American  
[til, teel] / tɪl, til /
Also teel

noun

  1. the sesame plant.


'til 2 American  
[til] / tɪl /

preposition

  1. until; till.


TIL 3 American  
Or til

abbreviation

  1. today I learned.


til British  
/ tiːl, tɪl /

noun

  1. another name for sesame, esp a variety grown in India

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Commonly Confused

See till 1.

Etymology

Origin of til1

Borrowed into English from Hindi around 1830–40

Origin of 'til2

Aphetic variant of until

Origin of TIL3

From its use in digital communications

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

The court heard that in another text to Celeste, sent in June 2024, Burke wrote: "Let's let this abortion be the last one til we have the real one…"

From BBC Jul. 25, 2026

“Some customers will have decided they’re gonna stop betting on football til the season comes around again next year,” Jackson said.

From The Wall Street Journal Feb. 26, 2026

“A fierce fighter til the end. My most ardent champion. My loyal protector. My best friend,” she wrote.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 15, 2024

Let’s fake it til you become it, you know?

From Salon May 20, 2024

That was til it took; the fools came rushing forward.

From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin

"From then 'til now I live with pain and incontinence and that's something that's really not talked about widely - with women generally, and certainly within certain communities."

From BBC May 13, 2026

And for the first time in a while, I slept ’til morning.

From The Wall Street Journal Mar. 29, 2026

And then, at five ’til 6, there was only one tent left.

From Slate Mar. 25, 2026

“You don’t know what it’s going to feel like ‘til you’re actually feeling it.”

From Los Angeles Times Feb. 14, 2026

“They must of drove it ’til the gas run out on ’em,” said the sergeant.

From "Typical American" by Gish Jen

But TIL therapy doesn't work for everyone, as the researchers found in their earlier study.

From Science Daily Apr. 16, 2024

And yes, TIL is actually included in the guide, but so are thousands of other abbreviations that I’m convinced someone just made up.

From The Verge Apr. 18, 2022

As Adams tweeted to Keller soon after the article appeared, “The main thing is that I am alive. Do not write me off and make statements about how my life ends TIL IT DOES, SIR.”

From Slate Jan. 14, 2014

Still, Sumit Mazumder, chairman of TIL Limited, a heavy equipment manufacturer, said he is more optimistic about West Bengal’s prospects.

From New York Times Sep. 18, 2012

To keep the TIL cells vigorous and growing, the NCI team had to inject the mice with additional IL-2, but only about a tenth as much as in the LAK treatments.

From Time Magazine Archive

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