till

Less common meanings

6. 6
   money countednouncountable

   The money held in a cash register, counted at the beginning or end of a day or a cashier's shift.

   At closing, every till had to match the recorded sales.

   His till was over by a few dollars after the busy lunch rush.

   UsageOften said to be short or over: her till came up short.

   Similartakings, cash

7. 7
   preposition

   Before a specified time or event; especially used to state the minutes remaining before an hour.

   The clock read five till six when the train pulled in.

   By the time we finally found a parking spot, it was already a quarter till seven.

   UsageIn clock times it works like to: a quarter till nine means 8:45.

   Similarto, before, of

   Oppositepast, after

   Note

   Counting down rather than up, it names what remains before a moment. "Twenty till two" is 1:40, a clock phrase built like "twenty to two." The same reckoning runs through A. T. Fullerton's "Fever" (1880), where "there are long hours yet till light." Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • A. T. Fullerton wrote the poem 'Fever'. en.wikisource.org
   • 'Fever' contains the quoted words. en.wiktionary.org
8. 8
   glacier debrisnoununcountable

   Glacial drift made up of a mixture of clay, sand, pebbles, and boulders deposited by ice.

   The valley floor is covered in thick till from the last ice age.

   Geologists examined the till to trace the glacier's path across the lowlands.

   Similardrift

   Note

   In use it behaves as a mass noun: thick till, the till of a valley floor. That keeps it apart in context from the shop's till, which is countable and readily takes a plural.

9. 9
   developverbliterarytransitive

   To develop something such as knowledge, virtue, or the mind so as to improve it or prepare it for use.

   Years of study till the mind and prepare it for deeper learning.

   Like a patient gardener, she tilled her students' minds, trusting that curiosity would one day take root.

   Similarcultivate, develop, nurture, improve, train

   Oppositeneglect

10. 10
    prepositiondialectal

    Used in some dialects to mean 'so that', introducing a purpose or intended result.

    Give me your hand there till I help you up onto the wall.

    Come in out of the rain till I get you a towel and something hot to drink.

    Note

    A purpose word that follows a command: "Get up till I embrace you," says Vladimir in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. Read as "until," the line turns odd. Read as "so that," it is plain, and that substitution is the test for this use. The construction is dialectal, so standard writing should use "so that" instead. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Samuel Beckett wrote Waiting for Godot. faber.co.uk
    • Vladimir says 'Get up till I embrace you' in Waiting for Godot. en.wiktionary.org
    • Till expresses purpose, equivalent to 'so that', in this example. en.wiktionary.org
11. 11
    manurenoundialectaluncountable

    Manure or other material spread on land to make it more fertile.

    Similarmanure, dung, muck, fertilizer, compost

    Note

    Regional speech uses the word for what is spread on land to enrich it. It shares the uncertain origin of the glacial sense, with the farming verb proposed as the link, through deposits used as fertilizer. Like the glacial noun it is a mass word, as in carting till out or good till. Outside dialect, manure is the safe choice. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • The fertilizer and glacial senses share an uncertain origin; derivation from the farming verb has been proposed because deposits were used as fertilizer. en.wiktionary.org
12. 12
    chest traynoun

    A small tray or sliding drawer set inside a chest or trunk.

    Note

    A drawer word in its plainest form: a tray or drawer fitted inside a chest. It sits nearest the possible origin behind the cash-register noun, a verb meaning "to draw," since a till of this kind is literally drawn out. Woodworkers and furniture makers still use it for the small compartment inside a blanket chest, so picture a tray in a trunk, not a shop counter. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • A till can be a tray or drawer fitted inside a chest. en.wiktionary.org
    • The cash-register noun possibly derives from a verb meaning “to draw.” en.wiktionary.org
    • The sliding drawer or tray described can be pulled forward or removed from its chest. blog.lostartpress.com
13. 13
    verbobsolete

    To prepare something, or to obtain or get it.

    Nor knowes a trappe nor snare to till

    1614, William Browne, The Shepherd's Pipe

    Note

    In older verse the verb could mean to make ready rather than to work soil. It is the same Old English verb behind the farming verb. William Browne's The Shepherd's Pipe (1614) mocks a man who "nor knowes a trappe nor snare to till," where to till a snare is to set it. A reader meeting it there should read "prepare," not "plow." Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • The older verb could mean 'prepare'. en.wiktionary.org
    • This sense shares its Old English origin with the farming verb. en.wiktionary.org
    • The line begins 'Nor knowes': Jockie describes someone who does not know how to set a trap or snare. Omitting the negative reverses the meaning. upload.wikimedia.org
    • To 'till' a snare here means to set or prepare it. upload.wikimedia.org
14. 14
    noundialectal

    A vetch or tare, a scrambling leguminous plant grown as fodder or growing wild among crops.