till

¹ American  

[til] / tɪl /

preposition

1. up to the time of; until.

   to fight till death.

2. before (used in negative constructions).

   He did not come till today.

3. near or at a specified time.

   till evening.

4. Chiefly Midland, Southern, and Western U.S. before; to.

   It's ten till four on my watch.

5. Scot. and North England.

   1. to.

   2. unto.

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conjunction

1. to the time that or when; until.

2. before (used in negative constructions).

till ² American  

[til] / tɪl /

verb (used with object)

tills, present (3rd person singular) tilled, past participle, past tilling present participle

1. to labor, as by plowing or harrowing, upon (land) for the raising of crops; cultivate.

2. to plow.

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verb (used without object)

tills, present (3rd person singular) tilled, past participle, past tilling present participle

1. to cultivate the soil.

till ³ American  

[til] / tɪl /

noun

1. a drawer, box, or the like, as in a shop or bank, in which money is kept.

2. a drawer, tray, or the like, as in a cabinet or chest, for keeping valuables.

3. an arrangement of drawers or pigeonholes, as on a desk top.

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till ⁴ American  

[til] / tɪl /

noun

1. Geology. glacial drift consisting of an unassorted mixture of clay, sand, gravel, and boulders.

2. a stiff clay.

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till ¹ British  

/ tɪl /

verb

1. to cultivate and work (land) for the raising of crops

2. another word for plough

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till ² British  

/ tɪl /

noun

1. an unstratified glacial deposit consisting of rock fragments of various sizes. The most common is boulder clay

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till ³ British  

/ tɪl /

conjunction

1. Also (not standard): 'til.  short for until

2. to; towards

3. dialect in order that

   come here till I tell you

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till ⁴ British  

/ tɪl /

noun

1. a box, case, or drawer into which the money taken from customers is put, now usually part of a cash register

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till Scientific  

/ tĭl /

1. An unstratified, unconsolidated mass of boulders, pebbles, sand, and mud deposited by the movement or melting of a glacier. The size and shape of the sediments that constitute till vary widely.

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till Idioms  

1. In addition to the subsequent idioms beginning with till, also see hand in the till; until.

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Usage

Till is a variant of until that is acceptable at all levels of language. Until is, however, often preferred at the beginning of a sentence in formal writing: until his behaviour improves, he cannot become a member

Commonly Confused

Till1 and until are both old in the language and are interchangeable as both prepositions and conjunctions: It rained till (or until ) nearly midnight. The savannah remained brown and lifeless until (or till ) the rains began. Till is not a shortened form of until and is not spelled 'till. 'Til is usually considered a spelling error, though widely used in advertising: Open 'til ten.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• tiller
  noun
• untilled
  adjective
• well-tilled
  adjective
• untilling
  adjective
• mistilled
  adjective
• tillable
  adjective

Conjugated Forms

Present

• has tilled
  perfect 3rd person singular
• have tilled
  perfect
• have been tilling
  perfect progressive
• are tilling
  progressive
• is tilling
  progressive 3rd person singular
• has been tilling
  perfect progressive 3rd person singular
• am tilling
  progressive 1st person singular
• tills
  singular 3rd person
• tilling
  participle

Past

• had tilled
  perfect
• were tilling
  progressive plural
• had been tilling
  perfect progressive
• tilled
  participle
• was tilling
  progressive singular
• tilled
  simple

Future

• will till
  simple
• will have tilled
  perfect
• will have been tilling
  perfect progressive
• will be tilling
  progressive

Etymology

Origin of till¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English (north) til “to,” from Old Norse til “to,” akin to Old English till “station, fixed point, standing-place” German Ziel “goal”

Origin of till²

First recorded before 900; Middle English tilen, Old English tilian “to strive after, get, till”; cognate with Dutch telen “to breed, cultivate,” German zielen “to aim at”

Origin of till³

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English tylle, noun use of tylle “to draw, attract,” Old English -tyllan (in fortyllan “to seduce”); akin to Latin dolus “trick,” Greek dólos “bait (for fish); any cunning contrivance; treachery”

Origin of till⁴

First recorded in 1665–75; origin uncertain

Explanation

The noun till means the same as "cash register." When you work at the store long enough, they'll let you operate the till. When you pay taxes to your town, they go into the local till, or government fund, for community improvements. Till is also used as a verb, meaning to work the land, to get it ready for planting and harvesting. Till can also be used to mean "until," which makes things a bit confusing. So, technically, you could have a sentence like: Don't touch the till till you take the customer's money.

Example Sentences

“We’re going to wait till every ballot is counted. We’re going to give democracy a time to work, and we know we finished really strong,” Steyer said.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 3, 2026

“We’ll be here till tomorrow dealing with this blaze,” said Major Issa Hamdoun, a civil defense commander, as he watched his men manhandling the fire hose into the wreckage of the building.

From Los Angeles Times • May 24, 2026

He told the committee about his relationship with Epstein's co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, which he said began in 2004 and lasted till 2010.

From BBC • May 14, 2026

Responding to a reporter's question at the White House, Trump said he would be taking the step, with the suspension to remain in place "till it's appropriate."

From Barron's • May 11, 2026

And then she’s back and leading us to a hiding place in the park where we’ll wait till night-time.

From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler