rill

[ril]

noun

a small rivulet or brook.

Origin of rill

1530–40; < Dutch or Low German; compare Frisian ril

rill

or rille

[ril]

noun Astronomy.

any of certain long, narrow, straight or sinuous trenches or valleys observed on the surface of the moon.

Origin of rill

1885–90; < German Rille; see rill¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for rills

creek, rivulet, brook, trench, valley, channel, streamlet, runnel, rille

Examples from the Web for rills

Historical Examples of rills

There is a large fountain of these running in ten thousand rills.
The Martins Of Cro' Martin, Vol. I (of II)
Charles James Lever
When the rain ceases, the rills, brooks, and creeks run dry.
Little Masterpieces of Science: Explorers
Various
Where are the shadows of the solemn hills, And the fresh music of the summer rills?
Poems
Frances Anne Butler
The rills which drain the eastern slope carry much of this broken stuff into a small arroyo that winds to the left of the mesilla.
Historical Introduction to Studies Among the Sedentary Indians of New Mexico; Report on the Ruins of the Pueblo of Pecos
Adolphus Bandelier
Many of the rills were artificial, leading from one rice field to another.
Mark Seaworth
William H.G. Kingston

British Dictionary definitions for rills

rill

noun

a brook or stream; rivulet

a small channel or gulley, such as one formed during soil erosion

Also: rille one of many winding cracks on the moon

Word Origin for rill

C15: from Low German rille; related to Dutch ril

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

Word Origin and History for rills

rill

"small brook, rivulet," 1530s, from or related to Dutch and Frisian ril, Low German rille "groove, furrow, running stream," probably from Proto-Germanic *ril- (cf. Old English rið, riþe "brook, stream," which survives only in dialects), a diminutive form from PIE root *reie- "to run, flow" (see Rhine).