pill.
A small, usually round or cylindrical object designed for easy swallowing, usually containing some sort of medication.
Meaning & usage
A small, usually round or cylindrical object designed for easy swallowing, usually containing some sort of medication.
A small, usually round or cylindrical object designed for easy swallowing, usually containing some sort of medication. Such an object that is of solid constitution (usually of compressed, bonded powder) rather than a capsule (with a shell containing loose powder or liquid).
Contraceptive medication, usually in the form of a pill to be taken by a woman; an oral contraceptive pill.
Jane went on the pill when she left for college.
She got pregnant one month after going off the pill.
Something offensive, unpleasant or nauseous which must be accepted or endured.
A contemptible, annoying, or unpleasant person.
A comical or entertaining person.
A small piece of any substance, for example a ball of fibers formed on the surface of a textile fabric by rubbing.
A baseball.
A bullet (projectile).
A rounded rectangle containing a brief text caption indicating the tag or category that an item belongs to.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *pil-? Latin pilus? Latin pila Proto-Indo-European *-lós Proto-Indo-European *-elós Proto-Italic *-elos Latin -ula Latin pilula, pillulabor. Middle Low German pilleder. Middle Dutch pilleder. Middle English pille English pill From Middle English pille (also pillem), a borrowing from Middle Low German pille or Middle Dutch pille (whence Dutch pil), probably from Latin pila, pilula. * (persuade or convince): Generalized from red pill.
Of a woven fabric surface, to form small matted balls of fiber.
This sweater is already pilled: it fuzzed after the very first wash.
To form into the shape of a pill.
Pilling is a skill rarely used by modern pharmacists.
To medicate with pills; to administer pills to.
She pills herself with all sorts of herbal medicines.
Pilling the cat is such a nightmare.
To take recreational drugs in pill form.
To persuade or convince someone of something.
To blackball (a potential club member).
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *pil-? Latin pilus? Latin pila Proto-Indo-European *-lós Proto-Indo-European *-elós Proto-Italic *-elos Latin -ula Latin pilula, pillulabor. Middle Low German pilleder. Middle Dutch pilleder. Middle English pille English pill From Middle English pille (also pillem), a borrowing from Middle Low German pille or Middle Dutch pille (whence Dutch pil), probably from Latin pila, pilula. * (persuade or convince): Generalized from red pill.
To peel; to remove the outer layer of hair, skin, or bark.
To peel; to make by removing the skin.
To be peeled; to peel off in flakes.
To pillage; to despoil or impoverish.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English pillen, pilen, from Old English pilian (“to peel”), from Latin pilō (“depilate”), from pilus (“hair”). Doublet of peel.
The peel or skin.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English pillen, pilen, from Old English pilian (“to peel”), from Latin pilō (“depilate”), from pilus (“hair”). Doublet of peel.
An inlet on the coast; a small tidal pool or bay. Pill can occur in the name of such an inlet.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English *pill, *pyll, from Old English pyll (“a pool, pill”), from Proto-Germanic *pullijaz (“small pool, ditch, creek”), diminutive of Proto-Germanic *pullaz (“pool, stream”), from Proto-Indo-European *bl̥nos (“bog, marsh”). Cognate with Old English pull (“pool, creek”), Scots poll (“slow moving stream, creek, inlet”), Icelandic pollur (“pond, pool, puddle”). More at pool.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.