# pill

/ˈpɪɫ/ (US) · /pˈɪl/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/pill
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 1. medicine

noun · CEFR A2

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

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

- The doctor told him to take one pill every morning with a glass of water.
- The patient was prescribed a daily pill to manage his blood pressure, with strict instructions not to skip any doses.

### 2. birth control

noun · CEFR B1

a medicine taken by women to prevent becoming pregnant.

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

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

### 3. annoying person

noun · CEFR C1 · Informal

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

For teachers: a person perceived as disagreeable, tedious, or socially tiresome.

- Stop complaining about everything; you are being such a pill today.
- Although he was a brilliant architect, his colleagues found him to be a bit of a pill during long project meetings.

### 4. fabric fuzz

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical

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

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

- This old sweater is covered in pills and needs to be cleaned.
- Low-quality synthetic blends are particularly prone to developing pills after only a few cycles in the washing machine.

### 5. to form fuzz balls

verb · CEFR C2 · Technical

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

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

- I stopped wearing that scarf because the wool started to pill almost immediately.
- The manufacturer claimed the new fabric blend would not pill, yet customers reported surface wear within weeks of purchase.

Usage: Intransitive verb.

## Examples

- 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.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.