till

1
[ til ]
See synonyms for till on Thesaurus.com
preposition

  1. up to the time of; until: to fight till death.

  2. before (used in negative constructions): He did not come till today.

  1. near or at a specified time: till evening.

  2. Chiefly Midland, Southern, and Western U.S. before; to: It's ten till four on my watch.

  3. Scot. and North England.

conjunction

  1. to the time that or when; until.

  2. before (used in negative constructions).

Origin of till

1
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English (north) til “to,” from Old Norse til “to,” akin to Old English till “station, fixed point, standing-place” German Ziel “goal”

confusables note For till

Till1 and until are both old in the language and are interchangeable as both prepositions and conjunctions: It rained till (or until ) nearly midnight. The savannah remained brown and lifeless until (or till ) the rains began. Till is not a shortened form of until and is not spelled 'till. 'Til is usually considered a spelling error, though widely used in advertising: Open 'til ten.

Other definitions for till (2 of 4)

till2
[ til ]
verb (used with object)

  1. to labor, as by plowing or harrowing, upon (land) for the raising of crops; cultivate.

  2. to plow.

verb (used without object)

  1. to cultivate the soil.

Origin of till

2
First recorded before 900; Middle English tilen, Old English tilian “to strive after, get, till”; cognate with Dutch telen “to breed, cultivate,” German zielen “to aim at”

Other words from till

  • mis·tilled, adjective
  • un·tilled, adjective
  • un·till·ing, adjective
  • well-tilled, adjective

Other definitions for till (3 of 4)

till3
[ til ]
noun

  1. a drawer, box, or the like, as in a shop or bank, in which money is kept.

  2. a drawer, tray, or the like, as in a cabinet or chest, for keeping valuables.

  1. an arrangement of drawers or pigeonholes, as on a desk top.

Origin of till

3
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English tylle, noun use of tylle “to draw, attract,” Old English -tyllan (in fortyllan “to seduce”); akin to Latin dolus “trick,” Greek dólos “bait (for fish); any cunning contrivance; treachery”

Other definitions for till (4 of 4)

till4
[ til ]
noun

  1. Geology. glacial drift consisting of an unassorted mixture of clay, sand, gravel, and boulders.

  2. a stiff clay.

Origin of till

4
First recorded in 1665–75; origin uncertain

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use till in a sentence

  • But the rivers, by cutting down and tilling up, have long since obliterated these water areas.

    Outlines of the Earth's History | Nathaniel Southgate Shaler

  • In 1550 oxen were employed, for the first time, in tilling the ground in the valley of Cusco.

    Buffon's Natural History. Volume VII (of 10) | Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon

  • The tenant remained in possession of the land without the means of tilling it, which was opposed to public policy.

    Landholding In England | Joseph Fisher

  • He saw himself working in the flowers and tilling the vegetable garden.

    From Place to Place | Irvin S. Cobb

  • The Papuans are the first to change the digging-stick into the hoe, a useful implement in tilling the soil.

British Dictionary definitions for till (1 of 4)

till1

/ (tɪl) /

conjunction, preposition

  1. Also (not standard): 'til short for until

  2. Scot to; towards

  1. dialect in order that: come here till I tell you

Origin of till

1
Old English til; related to Old Norse til to, Old High German zil goal, aim

usage For till

Till is a variant of until that is acceptable at all levels of language. Until is, however, often preferred at the beginning of a sentence in formal writing: until his behaviour improves, he cannot become a member

British Dictionary definitions for till (2 of 4)

till2

/ (tɪl) /

verb(tr)

  1. to cultivate and work (land) for the raising of crops

  2. another word for plough

Origin of till

2
Old English tilian to try, obtain; related to Old Frisian tilia to obtain, Old Saxon tilōn to obtain, Old High German zilōn to hasten towards

Derived forms of till

  • tillable, adjective
  • tiller, noun

British Dictionary definitions for till (3 of 4)

till3

/ (tɪl) /

noun

  1. a box, case, or drawer into which the money taken from customers is put, now usually part of a cash register

Origin of till

3
C15 tylle, of obscure origin

British Dictionary definitions for till (4 of 4)

till4

/ (tɪl) /

noun

  1. an unstratified glacial deposit consisting of rock fragments of various sizes. The most common is boulder clay

Origin of till

4
C17: of unknown origin

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

Scientific definitions for till

till

[ tĭl ]

  1. An unstratified, unconsolidated mass of boulders, pebbles, sand, and mud deposited by the movement or melting of a glacier. The size and shape of the sediments that constitute till vary widely.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Other Idioms and Phrases with till

till

In addition to the subsequent idioms beginning with till

  • till all hours
  • till hell freezes over
  • till the cows come home

also see:

  • hand in the till
  • until

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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