pill
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pill 1
(pĭl)n.
1. A small pellet or tablet of medicine, often coated, taken by swallowing whole or by chewing.
2. Informal An oral contraceptive. Used with the.
3. Slang Something, such as a baseball, that resembles a pellet of medicine.
4. Something both distasteful and necessary.
5. Slang An insipid or ill-natured person.
v. pilled, pil·ling, pills
v.tr.
1. To dose with pills.
2. To make into pills.
3. Slang To blackball.
v.intr.
To form small balls resembling pills: a sweater that pills.
[Middle English pille, from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German pille and Old French pile, all from Latin pilula, diminutive of pila, ball; see pellet.]
pill 2
(pĭl)v. pilled, pil·ling, pills
v.intr. Chiefly British
To come off, as in flakes or scales.
v.tr. Archaic
To subject to extortion.
[Middle English pillen, to plunder, peel, from Old English pilian; see peel1 and from Old French piller, to plunder; see pillage.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
pill
(pɪl)n
1. (Pharmacology) a small spherical or ovoid mass of a medicinal substance, intended to be swallowed whole
2. (Medicine) the pill (sometimes capital) informal an oral contraceptive
3. something unpleasant that must be endured (esp in the phrase bitter pill to swallow)
4. slang a ball or disc
5. a small ball of matted fibres that forms on the surface of a fabric through rubbing
6. slang an unpleasant or boring person
vb
7. (tr) to give pills to
8. (tr) to make pills of
9. (intr)
a. to form into small balls
b. (of a fabric) to form small balls of fibre on its surface through rubbing
10. (tr) slang to blackball
[C15: from Middle Flemish pille, from Latin pilula a little ball, from pila ball]
pill
(pɪl)vb
1. archaic or dialect to peel or skin (something)
2. archaic to pillage or plunder (a place)
3. obsolete to make or become bald
[Old English pilian, from Latin pilāre to strip]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
pill
(pɪl)n.
1. a small tablet or capsule of medicine, usu. designed to be swallowed whole or dissolved in the mouth.
2. something unpleasant that has to be accepted or endured.
3. Slang. a tiresomely disagreeable person.
4. Slang. a ball, esp. a baseball or golf ball.
5. the pill, (sometimes cap.) birth-control pill.
v.t. 6. to form or make into pills.
7. Slang. to blackball.
v.i. 8. to develop small, pill-like balls of fuzz on the surface, as a wool sweater.
[1375–1425; late Middle English pille < Middle Low German, Middle Dutch pille « Latin pilula, diminutive of pila ball; see -ule]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
pill
Past participle: pilled
Gerund: pilling
| Imperative |
|---|
| pill |
| pill |
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Switch to new thesaurus
| Noun | 1. |  pill - something that resembles a tablet of medicine in shape or sizething - an artifact; "how does this thing work?" vitamin pill - a pill containing one or more vitamins; taken as a dietary supplement |
| 2. | pill - a dose of medicine in the form of a small pellet bolus - a large pill; used especially in veterinary medicine capsule - a pill in the form of a small rounded gelatinous container with medicine inside dragee - pill that is a sugar-coated medicated candy sleeping capsule, sleeping draught, sleeping pill, sleeping tablet - a soporific drug in the form of a pill (or tablet or capsule) | |
| 3. | pill - a unpleasant or tiresome person disagreeable person, unpleasant person - a person who is not pleasant or agreeable | |
| 4. | pill - something unpleasant or offensive that must be tolerated or endured; "his competitor's success was a bitter pill to take" burden, encumbrance, onus, incumbrance, load - an onerous or difficult concern; "the burden of responsibility"; "that's a load off my mind" | |
| 5. |  pill - a contraceptive in the form of a pill containing estrogen and progestin to inhibit ovulation and so prevent conceptionanovulant, anovulatory drug, birth control pill, contraceptive pill, oral contraceptive, oral contraceptive pill birth control device, contraceptive, contraceptive device, prophylactic device, preventative, preventive - an agent or device intended to prevent conception Demulen - trade name for an oral contraceptive Enovid - trade name for an oral contraceptive containing mestranol and norethynodrel Loestrin - trade name for an oral contraceptive containing estradiol and norethindrone Lo/Ovral - trade name for an oral contraceptive containing estradiol and norgestrel Micronor - trade name for and oral contraceptive containing the progestin compound norethindrone Modicon - trade name for an oral contraceptive containing estradiol and norethindrone Norinyl - trade name for an oral contraceptive containing norethindrone and mestranol Norlestrin - trade name for an oral contraceptive containing estradiol and norethindrone Nor-Q-D - trade name for an oral contraceptive containing norethindrone Ovocon - trade name for an oral contraceptive containing estradiol and norethindrone Ovral - trade name for an oral contraceptive containing estradiol and norgestrel Ovrette - trade name for an oral contraceptive containing norgestrel Ovulen - trade name for an oral contraceptive containing mestranol and a progestin compound Lipo-Lutin, progesterone - a steroid hormone (trade name Lipo-Lutin) produced in the ovary; prepares and maintains the uterus for pregnancy |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
pill
a bitter pill (to swallow) trial, pain (informal), bore, drag (informal), pest, nuisance, pain in the neck (informal) You're too old to be given a job. That's a bitter pill to swallow.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
pill
nounThe American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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Spanish / Español
pill
[pɪl]Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
pill
(pil) noun a small ball or tablet of medicine, to be swallowed. She took a pill; sleeping-pills.píldora, pastilla
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
pill
→ comprimido , pastillaMultilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009
pill
n. pastilla, píldora;
birth control ___ → la píldora, píldora de control del embarazo;
pain ___ → calmante, sedativo, ___ para el dolor;
sleeping ___ → sedativo, ___ para dormir.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012
Collins Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009
pill
n pastilla, píldora; birth control — píldora anticonceptiva; morning after — píldora del día después; pain — analgésico (form), calmante m, pastilla para el dolor; — cutter cortador m de pastillas, cortapastillas m (esp. Mex), aparato para cortar pastillas; — organizer organizador m de pastillas, caja dividida en secciones para organizar pastillas de acuerdo con el día y la hora de tomarlas; sleeping — somnífero (form), pastilla para dormir; the — (fam, oral contraceptive) la píldora anticonceptiva, la píldora (fam); water — (fam) diurético, pastilla para eliminar el aguaEnglish-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.