pill
1[ pil ]
/ pɪl /
noun
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
to form into small, pill-like balls, as the fuzz on a wool sweater.Compare depill.
QUIZZES
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In our third teacher-created PSAT practice test there are new and unique vocabulary terms you may have never heard of! Can you guess what they mean?
Question 1 of 10
seclusion
Idioms for pill
Take a chill pill!Disparaging Slang. chill pill (def. 2).
Origin of pill
1First 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
Definition for pill (2 of 3)
pill2
[ pil ]
/ pɪl /
verb (used with or without object)
British Dialect. to peel.
Obsolete. to become or cause to become bald.
Origin of pill
2First 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 pile3
Definition for pill (3 of 3)
pill3
[ pil ]
/ pɪl /
verb (used with object) Archaic.
to rob, plunder, or pillage.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for pill
British Dictionary definitions for pill (1 of 2)
pill1
/ (pɪl) /
noun
verb
See also pills
Word Origin for pill
C15: from Middle Flemish pille, from Latin pilula a little ball, from pila ball
British Dictionary definitions for pill (2 of 2)
pill2
/ (pɪl) /
verb
archaic, or dialect to peel or skin (something)
archaic to pillage or plunder (a place)
obsolete to make or become bald
Word Origin for pill
Old English pilian, from Latin pilāre to strip
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
Medical definitions for pill
pill
[ pĭl ]
n.
A small pellet or tablet of medicine, often coated, taken by swallowing whole or by chewing.
An oral contraceptive.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Idioms and Phrases with pill
pill
see bitter pill to swallow; sugar the pill.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.