pill
1a small globular or rounded mass of medicinal substance, usually covered with a hard coating, that is to be swallowed whole.
something unpleasant that has to be accepted or endured: Ingratitude is a bitter pill.
Slang. a tiresomely disagreeable person.
Sports Slang. a ball, especially a baseball or golf ball.
the pill. birth-control pill.
pills, British Slang. billiards.
to dose with pills.
to form or make into pills.
Slang. to blackball.
to form into small, pill-like balls, as the fuzz on a wool sweater.: Compare depill.
Idioms about pill
Take a chill pill!Disparaging Slang. chill pill (def. 2).
Origin of pill
1Other definitions for pill (2 of 3)
British Dialect. to peel.
Obsolete. to become or cause to become bald.
Origin of pill
2Other definitions for pill (3 of 3)
to rob, plunder, or pillage.
Origin of pill
3Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use pill in a sentence
The best ye could do would be to seize the odd days pilling.
Back o' the Moon | Oliver OnionsThat's why we are pilling and plucking all our feathers off.'
Tales from the Fjeld | P. Chr. AsbjrnsenScholars in this field of research will find their labors greatly abridged by the work of Mr. Pilling.
Indian Linguistic Families Of America, North Of Mexico | John Wesley PowellI was amused with a remark made on one occasion by an old fellow best known by the sobriquet of "Jobber Pilling's feyther."
Lancashire Humour | Thomas NewbiggingWent to Pilling's Works but could not find Mr. P. or learn anything about my uncle.
A Journey to America in 1834 | Robert Heywood
British Dictionary definitions for pill (1 of 2)
/ (pɪl) /
a small spherical or ovoid mass of a medicinal substance, intended to be swallowed whole
the pill (sometimes capital) informal an oral contraceptive
something unpleasant that must be endured (esp in the phrase bitter pill to swallow)
slang a ball or disc
a small ball of matted fibres that forms on the surface of a fabric through rubbing
slang an unpleasant or boring person
(tr) to give pills to
(tr) to make pills of
(intr)
to form into small balls
(of a fabric) to form small balls of fibre on its surface through rubbing
(tr) slang to blackball
Origin of pill
1- See also pills
British Dictionary definitions for pill (2 of 2)
/ (pɪl) /
archaic, or dialect to peel or skin (something)
archaic to pillage or plunder (a place)
obsolete to make or become bald
Origin of pill
2Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with pill
see bitter pill to swallow; sugar the pill.
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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