pills

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of pill.

   The pharmacist counted out thirty pills and sealed the bottle.

   She lined up the colorful pills on the counter to sort her weekly doses.

   Note

   An ordinary -s plural, and it covers the countable things: tablets, capsules, and the slang senses for a person, whether tiresome or comical. The contraceptive is the exception. It is an uncountable noun used with the definite article, so it stays singular: she is on the pill, never on pills. The same spelling doubles as the present-tense verb, so a sweater that pills is shedding fiber, not taking medicine.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of pill.

   The wool blend pills badly around the elbows after a few wears.

   Whenever the jacket pills, she shaves the surface smooth with a fabric razor.

   Note

   With fabric the verb takes no object: the wool pills, the cuffs pill. Its transitive uses need one. A vet pills a reluctant cat, and in internet slang someone pills a friend, meaning convinces them of something. Older British slang, now dated, used it for blackballing a would-be club member. Whichever sense is meant, this form pairs only with a singular third-person subject, such as she, it or the jacket.

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