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pill

n. · v.
US //ˈpɪɫ// UK //pˈɪl// pill
  1. 1 medicine (n.)
    A2 Elementary Medicine

    a small, solid piece of medicine that you swallow whole.

    a small, typically round or cylindrical medicated mass intended to be swallowed whole.

    Example

    The doctor told him to take one pill every morning with a glass of water.

    Example

    The patient was prescribed a daily pill to manage his blood pressure, with strict instructions not to skip any doses.
  2. 2 birth control (n.)
    B1 Intermediate Medicine

    a medicine taken by women to prevent becoming pregnant.

    an oral contraceptive medication, typically referred to with the definite article as 'the pill'.

    Example

    She went to the clinic to talk to her doctor about starting the pill.

    Example

    Since the introduction of the pill in the 1960s, reproductive healthcare and social norms have shifted significantly.

    Usage

    Usually used with 'the' as in 'the pill'.
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  1. 3 annoying person (n.)
    C1 Advanced Informal

    a person who is very annoying or unpleasant to be around.

    a person perceived as disagreeable, tedious, or socially tiresome.

    Example

    Stop complaining about everything; you are being such a pill today.

    Example

    Although he was a brilliant architect, his colleagues found him to be a bit of a pill during long project meetings.
  2. 4 fabric fuzz (n.)
    C2 Proficiency Technical

    a tiny ball of fibers that forms on the surface of clothes or blankets.

    a small ball of matted fibers formed on the surface of a textile through friction or wear.

    Example

    This old sweater is covered in pills and needs to be cleaned.

    Example

    Low-quality synthetic blends are particularly prone to developing pills after only a few cycles in the washing machine.
  3. 5 to form fuzz balls (v.)
    C2 Proficiency Technical

    when clothes get small, annoying balls of fluff on them after being worn or washed.

    to form small matted balls of fiber on the surface of a fabric, typically due to abrasion.

    Example

    I stopped wearing that scarf because the wool started to pill almost immediately.

    Example

    The manufacturer claimed the new fabric blend would not pill, yet customers reported surface wear within weeks of purchase.

    Usage

    Intransitive verb.

Etymology 1

* 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.

Etymology 2

From Middle English pillen, pilen, from Old English pilian (“to peel”), from Latin pilō (“depilate”), from pilus (“hair”). Doublet of peel.

Etymology 3

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.

Idioms6 entries

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