pill

PIL/pɪl/

21 meanings of pill

1
nouncountable
A small, round object you swallow that usually has medicine inside.
Like a small candy you swallow, but with medicine inside instead of sugar.
The doctor told her to take one pill every morning.
He swallowed the pill with a big glass of water.
Similartablet
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2
nouncolloquialuncountabledefinite
Medicine a woman takes, usually one tablet a day, to keep from getting pregnant.
She started taking the pill after talking with her doctor.
Many women rely on the pill as their main form of birth control.
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3
nouncountable
Something bad that you have to accept or deal with even though you don't like it.
Like having to eat something you hate because there's nothing else on the plate.
Losing the championship was a bitter pill for the whole team.
Admitting he was wrong proved a hard pill to swallow.
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4
nouncountable
A solid medicine tablet made of pressed powder, not a capsule with a soft shell.
This medicine comes as a hard pill rather than a soft capsule.
The pharmacist showed me a small white pill instead of a capsule.
Similartablet
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5
nouncountable
A tiny ball of fibers that forms on cloth when it rubs and wears.
Like the little fuzzy balls that show up on an old blanket.
She picked one pill of fluff off her wool jacket.
Little pills of fuzz appeared all over my old sweater.
Similarfuzzball, bobble
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6
verbintransitive
To form small balls of fuzz on the surface, as cloth does with wear.
Like the fuzz balls that build up on a sweater you've worn many times.
My new sweater started to pill after I washed it.
These cushion covers pill where people sit most often.
Similarbobble
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7
nounslangcountable
An annoying or unpleasant person who is hard to like or be around.
Like that one person who spoils the fun for everybody else.
Don't be such a pill. Just come to the party with us.
Her older brother can be a real pill when he's tired.
Similarpain, nuisance, pest
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8
verbtransitive
To give someone pills as medicine.
The vet pilled the cat twice a day for a week.
Nurses pill the patients each morning before breakfast.
Similardose, medicate
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9
verbtransitive
To talk someone into believing or agreeing to something.
He pilled his friends into joining the camping trip.
They pill new members with promises of easy money.
Similarpersuade, coax, talk, convince
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10
nouncountable
A small rounded shape on a screen that shows a label or category for something.
Tap the pill at the top to filter results by category.
Each tag shows up as a small colored pill below the title.
Similarchip, tag, badge, label
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11
verbtransitive
To roll or press something into the shape of a small pill.
The pharmacist pilled the mixture by hand.
You can pill the dough into small round balls.
12
nounslangcountable
The hard ball that players throw, hit, and catch in baseball.
The pitcher fired the pill past the batter for a third strike.
He smacked the pill deep into left field for a home run.
Similarball, baseball
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13
nounslangcountable
A bullet: the small metal piece fired from a gun.
The outlaw took a pill in the shoulder during the gunfight.
He swore he'd put a pill in anyone who crossed him.
Similarbullet, slug, round
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14
nounslangcountable
A funny person who makes other people laugh and have a good time.
Grandpa was a real pill, always cracking jokes and keeping everyone laughing.
What a pill she is. Her stories had the whole table in stitches.
Similarcard, riot, hoot, scream
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15
verbdatedUKtransitive
To vote against letting someone join a club or group.
Like everyone secretly voting 'no' so a person can't get in.
The senior members voted to pill the new applicant.
“I pilled him because he is a liar,” said Thackeray. “He calls himself 'ill' when he isn't.”
1907, Arthur Griffiths, Clubs and ClubmenHere, pilled means voted against letting him join the club.
Similarblackball, reject
Oppositeadmit
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16
verbtransitive
To take the skin or peel off something.
Like taking the wrapper off a candy.
She pilled the apples before slicing them for the pie.
Pill the potatoes before you boil them.
Similarpeel, strip, skin
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17
verbintransitive
To come off in thin flakes, like skin or old paint.
Like dry paint coming off a wall in little bits.
The old paint began to pill off the fence in the summer heat.
Sunburned skin will pill away after a few days.
Similarpeel, flake
18
noundialectalUKcountable
A small inlet, tidal pool, or bay along the coast.
Like a small pocket of seawater tucked into the shore.
Boats sheltered in the pill when the tide came in.
Children hunted for crabs in the muddy pill near the village.
Similarcreek, inlet
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19
verbobsolete
To strip off the outer layer of hair, skin, or bark.
Like peeling the rind off an orange.
The tanner pilled the hides before curing them.
Workers would pill the bark from the felled oaks each spring.
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20
verbobsolete
To rob a place or people of money and goods, leaving them poor.
Like robbers taking everything a town owns.
The invading soldiers pilled every village along the river.
And there by her were poured forth at fill, As if, this to adorne, she all the rest did pill
1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie QueeneHere, pill means to rob and plunder, leaving others poor.
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21
nounobsolete
The skin or peel on the outside of a fruit or plant.
Like the skin you peel off a banana.
The cook saved the lemon pill to flavor the pudding.
Some be covered with crusts or hard pills, as the locust
1601, Pliny the Elder, The Historie of the WorldHere, pills means the hard outer skins or peels of plants.
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Practice

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Origins

Meanings 1–15

From Middle English pille, borrowed from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch pille, probably from Latin pila or pilula.

Meanings 16–17, 19–21

From Old English pilian, meaning "to peel," from Latin pilus, meaning "hair." It is a doublet of peel.

Meaning 18

From Old English pyll, meaning "a pool," from a Proto-Germanic word for a small pool or ditch, ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "bog" or "marsh."