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.

---

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.

---

pill ³ American  

[pil] / pɪl /

verb (used with object)

Archaic.

1. to rob, plunder, or pillage.

---

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

---

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

---

pill More Idioms  

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

---

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

Without insurance coverage, the cost of obesity drugs ranges from $149 to $1,060 a month, depending on dosage and whether it’s a pill or injectable.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 30, 2026

“If they had a pill that could make you straight, would you take it? And someone gave the most romantic answer, which was, ‘I wouldn’t, because then I wouldn’t be with my partner.’”

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 17, 2026

That could be a difficult pill to swallow for investors amid the current AI backdrop and the pressure by AI on software stocks.

From Barron's • Jun. 16, 2026

Olivier Picard, chair of the National Pharmacy Association, called the approval of the pill "significant", adding that it could help patients who were unable or do not wish to take the injectable version.

From BBC • Jun. 11, 2026

Partly, I kept forgetting, but also there was something else I couldn’t quite identify, some way-down fear that taking a pill to become myself was wrong.

From "Turtles All the Way Down" by John Green

Related Words

• dose
• medicine
• tablet