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pillow.

A soft cushion used to support the head in bed.

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈpɪ.ləʊ/Received-Pronunciation/ˈpɪ.loʊ/ [ˈpʰɪ.loʊ]General-American/ˈpɛ.loʊ/US, dialectal
  1. A soft cushion used to support the head in bed.

    countable · uncountable
  2. Any similar head support used for sleep, such as a neck pillow or a hard porcelain pillow.

    countable · uncountable
    She slept with her head on the pillow.
  3. A pillow lava.

    countable · uncountable
  4. A piece of metal or wood, forming a support to equalize pressure; a brass; a pillow block.

    countable · uncountable
  5. A block under the inner end of a bowsprit.

    countable · uncountable
  6. The socket of a pivot.

    countable · uncountable
  7. A kind of plain, coarse fustian.

    uncountable
  8. A woman's breast, especially when large and seemingly soft.

    countable · in-plural · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English pilwe, from Old English pyle, pylu (“pillow”), from Proto-West Germanic *pulwī (“pillow”), from Latin pulvīnus (“cushion”), derived from pulvis (“dust”), for the filler of a pillow. Doublet of pulvinus. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Peel (“pillow”), Alemannic German Pfulme (“pillow”), Dutch peluw (“a long, narrow pillow”), German Pfühl (“a big and soft pillow”), German Low German Pöhl (“pad, pillow, cushion”).

verb/ˈpɪ.ləʊ/Received-Pronunciation/ˈpɪ.loʊ/ [ˈpʰɪ.loʊ]General-American/ˈpɛ.loʊ/US, dialectal
  1. To rest as on a pillow.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English pilwe, from Old English pyle, pylu (“pillow”), from Proto-West Germanic *pulwī (“pillow”), from Latin pulvīnus (“cushion”), derived from pulvis (“dust”), for the filler of a pillow. Doublet of pulvinus. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Peel (“pillow”), Alemannic German Pfulme (“pillow”), Dutch peluw (“a long, narrow pillow”), German Pfühl (“a big and soft pillow”), German Low German Pöhl (“pad, pillow, cushion”).

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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.