pill

¹

[pil]

noun

1. a small globular or rounded mass of medicinal substance, usually covered with a hard coating, that is to be swallowed whole.

2. something unpleasant that has to be accepted or endured.

   Ingratitude is a bitter pill.

3. Slang.,  a tiresomely disagreeable person.

4. Sports Slang.,  a ball, especially a baseball or golf ball.

5. the pill. birth-control pill.

6. British Slang.,  pills, billiards.

verb (used with object)

1. to dose with pills.

2. to form or make into pills.

3. Slang.,  to blackball.

verb (used without object)

1. to form into small, pill-like balls, as the fuzz on a wool sweater.

pill

²

[pil]

verb (used with or without object)

1. British Dialect.,  to peel.

2. Obsolete.,  to become or cause to become bald.

pill

³

[pil]

verb (used with object)

Archaic.

1. to rob, plunder, or pillage.

pill

¹

/ pɪl /

noun

1. a small spherical or ovoid mass of a medicinal substance, intended to be swallowed whole

2. informal,  (sometimes capital) an oral contraceptive

3. something unpleasant that must be endured (esp in the phrase bitter pill to swallow )

4. slang,  a ball or disc

5. a small ball of matted fibres that forms on the surface of a fabric through rubbing

6. slang,  an unpleasant or boring person

verb

1. (tr) to give pills to

2. (tr) to make pills of

3. (intr)

   1. to form into small balls

   2. (of a fabric) to form small balls of fibre on its surface through rubbing

4. slang,  (tr) to blackball

pill

²

/ pɪl /

verb

1. archaic,  to peel or skin (something)

2. archaic,  to pillage or plunder (a place)

3. obsolete,  to make or become bald

Word History and Origins

Origin of pill¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; Middle English pille, from Middle Low German, Middle Dutch pille, Old French pile, from Latin pilula “little ball, globule, pellet,” diminutive of pila “ball”; -ule

Origin of pill²

First recorded before 1100; Middle English pilen “to rob, steal, plunder,” Old English pilian “to skin, peel,” from Latin pilāre “to pluck, remove (hair or feathers)” pile ³

Origin of pill³

First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English pile(n), pille(n), pilie(n), probably conflation of pill ² with Middle French piller, peler ( pillage )

Word History and Origins

Origin of pill¹

C15: from Middle Flemish pille, from Latin pilula a little ball, from pila ball

Origin of pill²

Old English pilian, from Latin pilāre to strip

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. Take a chill pill! chill pill.

see bitter pill to swallow; sugar the pill.

Example Sentences

On the alleged syndicate members they arrested, police said they found 25 sachets of marijuana and six ecstasy pills.

From BBC

Reah Steer, 34, from Windsor in Berkshire, described enduring years of agony and being prescribed the contraceptive pill, which only disguised the disease.

From BBC

The pills are taken daily, which can be difficult for patients to consume, and can carry stigma in certain societies.

From BBC

Hanifa says she bought them at a pharmacy, saying she wanted sleeping pills for herself.

From BBC

Last year, the cancer reappeared in her spine and she was immediately prescribed chemotherapy pills and hormone treatment.

From BBC

Related Words

• dose 
• medicine 
• tablet