pill
n. countablen. a small, solid piece of medicine that you swallow. It is usually round or oval and helps you feel better when you are sick.
n. a small, solid mass of medicinal substance, typically rounded or disc-shaped, intended to be swallowed whole.
The doctor told me to take one pill every morning.
She keeps her daily vitamins in a small plastic box to ensure she never forgets to take a pill.
Advances in pharmaceutical coatings allow a pill to pass through the stomach intact, ensuring the active ingredients are released only when they reach the small intestine.
* 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.
From Middle English pillen, pilen, from Old English pilian (“to peel”), from Latin pilō (“depilate”), from pilus (“hair”). Doublet of peel.
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.
Commonly used with the verb 'take' rather than 'eat' or 'swallow' when referring to the act of medicating.
I must eat my pill nowI must take my pill nowIn English, medicine in this form is 'taken', not 'eaten'.
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horse pill
A medicinal pill which is very large in size and is therefore difficult for a person to swallow.
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pill in the pocket
A medication, usually prescribed by a physician, which the patient is to carry with them, and which is to be used only under certain conditions.
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pill mill
A clandestine operation where a medical worker illicitly offers prescription medication to patients in exchange for bribes.