pillow
Americannoun
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a bag or case made of cloth that is filled with feathers, down, or other soft material, and is used to cushion the head during sleep or rest.
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anything used to cushion the head; headrest.
a pillow of moss.
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Also called lace pillow. a hard cushion or pad that supports the pattern and threads in the making of bobbin lace.
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a supporting piece or part, as the block on which the inner end of a bowsprit rests.
verb (used with object)
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to rest on or as on a pillow.
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to support with pillows.
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to serve as a pillow for.
She pillowed the child with her body.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a cloth case stuffed with feathers, foam rubber, etc, used to support the head, esp during sleep
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Also called: cushion. a padded cushion or board on which pillow lace is made
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anything like a pillow in shape or function
verb
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to rest (one's head) on or as if on a pillow
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to serve as a pillow for
Synonym Usage
See cushion.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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pillowsimple
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pillowssimple
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have pillowedperfect
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has pillowedperfect
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am pillowingprogressive
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are pillowingprogressive
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is pillowingprogressive
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have been pillowingperfect progressive
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has been pillowingperfect progressive
Past
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pillowedsimple
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had pillowedperfect
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was pillowingprogressive
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were pillowingprogressive
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had been pillowingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pillow
before 900; Middle English pilwe, Old English pylu < Latin pulvīnus cushion (whence also German Pfühl)
Explanation
A pillow is something you rest your head on while you sleep. Or, during a slumber party, a pillow could be used as a weapon. While in some cultures people have used hard pillows made of stone or wood, it's most common today to sleep with your head on a pillow stuffed with feathers or foam. Many people also have pillows on their chairs and sofas, either as decoration or to make them more comfortable. During a "pillow fight," playful combatants hit each other with soft pillows.
Vocabulary lists containing pillow
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
That Sybylla does, in fact, resist, choosing independence over love and the possibility of perennial pillow fights, makes “My Brilliant Career” so daring and thrilling.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
Thirty-three involved a long straw design and 21 were pillow bottle-holders designed to fasten around a baby's neck.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
“I can be your pillow, mommy,” her daughter said, nuzzling into her neck.
From Salon ● May 27, 2026
“My agent will know the places I like, it will have insight into my finances, my budget, my risk tolerances, all my preferences from the kind of room I like to my pillow type.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
And as the door clicked shut, I pushed the fireplace poker off the bed and pulled the lace pillow over my head with a groan.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
That first week, we had a TV and a kind of makeshift conversation pit: a quilt, a mattress, some pillows.
From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026
So as soon as the air alert starts, she takes blankets and pillows into the bathroom with her children and hunkers down.
From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026
The new stores, dubbed Bed Bath & Beyond + The Container Store, will offer home organizational products as well as bed sheets, pillows and more.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2026
They raced to Susman’s home, loaded the computer in her station wagon, smothered the machine in pillows and blankets—and buckled the seat belt.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 20, 2026
He’s been fluffing pillows that don’t need to be fluffed, sweeping parts of the house that were already clean, and rearranging the knickknacks he already arranged moments before.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
“He was wafted bodily up onto the wall and into the mural itself. He felt himself pillowed on clouds, and saw stretching before him a grand panorama of palaces and pavilions,” wrote Pu.
From New York Times ● May 11, 2020
But a new facade of pillowed concrete, along with arched skylights in the workshop areas, add touches of refinement to what is essentially a space to make artistic messes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2019
I raced through steep pine forests pillowed with heavy snow and frozen aspens, the Wasatch mountains rolling by in swirls of purple and brilliant white.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 18, 2016
So, in Bright Star, Keats is not just Romantic but romantic too: head pillowed upon fair Fanny’s breast, mooning about in blue velvet tails, he essentially speaks in his own verse.
From Slate ● Apr. 26, 2012
Taran, his head pillowed on his saddle, his hand on his new sword, was impatient for dawn and eager to resume the journey.
From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander
The musical orchestration pillowing their voices is lovely, the singing sincere.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 5, 2024
Kaede rolled over, pillowing her head on her bent arm to look at him.
From "Huntress" by Malinda Lo
Kaede built the small fire as quickly as she could, and Con pulled Shae’s sleeping form toward it, pillowing her head on a rolled-up blanket.
From "Huntress" by Malinda Lo
He lay back, pillowing his head on his hands.
From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
I lie facedown on her bed, pillowing my head on my arms, completely drained in the aftermath of a hellish morning.
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
