pill

¹ American  

[pil] / pɪl /

noun

• pills
  plural

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.

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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.

idioms

1. Take a chill pill! chill pill.

pill ² American  

[pil] / pɪl /

verb (used with or without object)

1. British Dialect. to peel.

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

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pill ³ American  

[pil] / pɪl /

verb (used with object)

Archaic.

1. to rob, plunder, or pillage.

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pill ¹ British  

/ 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

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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 British  

/ pɪl /

verb

1. archaic to peel or skin (something)

2. archaic to pillage or plunder (a place)

3. obsolete to make or become bald

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pill More Idioms  

1. see bitter pill to swallow; sugar the pill.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• pills
  plural

Etymology

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”; see -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)” see 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 ( see pillage)

Explanation

A small, round dose of medicine is a pill. If you get sick, you might take a pill, which is a pain because it usually tastes bad. A person who’s a pain can also be called a pill. In addition to medicine, you can take vitamins or other supplements in the form of a pill. Most pills have to be swallowed whole with water, but some can be chewed. Because of the association of pill with yucky medicine, there's also the colloquial meaning of "unpleasant person," like a little brother who's a total pill. And from the same association comes "a bitter pill to swallow," for "a difficult or painful necessity."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pill pills

Eli Lilly doubles down on its pipeline with new data for weight-loss pill Foundayo and next-generation combo drug EloraTZP.

From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026

Much of the year’s high points are due to the Wegovy pill, which has been a resounding success.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026

Pharmacies are failing on AI diet pill checks, writes Sunday People.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026

“It was like taking only one pill of your antibiotic regime,” says Rafael Simon.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026

When Yossarian woke up and went to see him, Doc Daneeka gave him another pill and a shot that put him to sleep for another twelve hours.

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller

Rather than a typical medical clinic, it provides women with access to resources, including pills, and a space to be able to seek support or carry out the pharmacological abortion.

From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026

They’ve floated ideas like buying remote islands, stockpiling iodine pills, or moving to electromagnetically shielded bunkers in the desert.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026

Adults build little accommodations for themselves all day long; we put the pills beside the toothbrush, buy the pre-cut fruit, turn on a podcast to make folding laundry bearable.

From Salon ● Sep. 15, 2026

At a hearing in May, Steele granted prosecutors’ request for access to “any and all prescription medication on file” for Woods, including type of prescription, number of pills and dosage amount.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

Her mother was a nurse at the hospital, counting pills, drawing blood, changing bedpans, no stranger to night and double shifts.

From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng

Related Words

• dose
• medicine
• tablet