▪ I. pill, n.1 Now dial.
(pɪl)
Forms: 4 pile, 5 pylle, 6 pille, pyl(l, 6–7 pil, 6–8 (9 dial.) pill. See also peel n.3
[app. related to pill v.1 as the collateral form peel n.3 is to peel v.1]
The covering or integument of a fruit; the shell, husk, rind, or skin; the bark, or any layer of the bark, of wood; the epiderm of hemp or flax; esp. the thin rind or peel of fruits, tuberous or bulbous roots, and the like; = peel n.3
| 1388 Wyclif 2 Sam. xvii. 19 As driynge barli with the pile takun a wey [1382 as driynge pild barli, Vulg. siccans ptisanas]. 1491 Caxton Vitas Patr. (W. de W. 1495) ii. 218 By me I do ley a quantyte of small palmes of the whiche I pare the pylles & therof I make mattes. 1530 Palsgr. 254/1 Pyll of fruyte, pellevre. Ibid., Pyll of hempe, til [mod.F. tille]. 1541 R. Copland Galyen's Terapeut. 2 H ij, The huske or pyl of the pomgarnet. 1558–68 Warde tr. Alexis' Secr. 42 Take..a piece of the pille of a Citron confiete. 1565–73 Cooper Thesaurus, Calyx,..the pill of a nutte or almon. 1573–80 Baret Alv. P 360 The pill of wood betweene the barke and tree. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage ix. iv. 841 Boughes tied together with the pills of trees. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xxxi. (1663) 123 Boats likewise laden with dried orange pils. 1658 tr. Porta's Nat. Magic iii. x. 80 You must set the bud of a Rose into the bark or pill thereof. 1716 M. Davies Athen. Brit. II. 350 An Onion with many Pills or Skins. ? 18.. Harvest Song (L.), Broom..bears a little yellow flower, Just like the lemon pill. 1896 Warwicks. Gloss., Orange-pill, tater-pill. 1898 G. Miller Gloss. Warwicks., Taking the pill off the oziers. [In E.D.D. cited from Midland Counties.] |
† b. The shell of crustaceans; the hard integument of other invertebrates.
Obs.| 1565–73 Cooper Thesaurus, Crusta.., pilles of certaine fishes, as of crauishes, &c. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 242 Some be couered ouer with crusts or hard pills, as the locusts: others haue..sharpe prickles, as the vrchins. 1608 Topsell Serpents (1658) 784 Aristotle is of opinion that the matter is outward, as it were a certain shell or pill. |
† c. The skin and other refuse of a hawk's prey:
cf. pelt n.1 6.
Obs.| 1615 Latham Falconry (1633) Words Art expl., Pill, and pelfe of a fowle, is that refuse and broken remains which are left after the Hawke hath been relieued. 1678 Phillips, Pelf, or Pill of a Fowl. |
† d. Used for
pell,
n. 1 b: see
quot. 1575,
s.v.| 1727 Bradley Fam. Dict., Fraying,..[of] Deer,..their rubbing and pushing their Horns against Trees, to cause the Pills of their new Horns to come off. |
▪ II. pill, n.2 (
pɪl)
Forms: 5–7
pylle,
pille, 6
pyll, 6–7
pil, 7
piele, 6–
pill.
[Formerly also pil. in 15–17th c. pille: cf. Du. pil, formerly pille (Hexham 1678), MDu., MLG. pille, Ger. pille, MHG. pillele, F. pilule (in 1507 pillule, Hatz.-Darm.), It. pillola, also (Florio) pillula, ad. L. pilula. dim. of pila ball. Franck refers to a med.L. pilla (? syncopated from pilula, or from the mod. langs.) which might be the direct source of pille; but cf. OF. pile (13th c.) in same sense, app. ad. L. pila.] 1. a. A small ball or globular mass of medicinal substance, made up of a size convenient to be swallowed whole.
| 1484 Caxton Fables of Poge x, A phisycyen..had a seruaunt..whiche made pylles. 1570 Levins Manip. 123/22 A Pil,..catapotium, i. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 292 If it be in Winter, purge him with these pils. c 1696 Prior Remedy Worse than Disease i, He felt my pulse, prescrib'd his pill. 1763 Brit. Mag. IV. 436 The cannon⁓shot, and doctor's pill With equal aim are sure to kill. 1789 W. Buchan Dom. Med. (1790) 685 The ingredients which enter the composition of pills are generally so contrived, that one pill of an ordinary size may contain about five grains of the compound. 1838 T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 580 Aloes..is usually administered in pills. |
b. In figurative expressions;
esp. something disagreeable that has to be ‘swallowed’ or endured.
| 1548 Udall Erasm. Par. Luke iv. 47 Yet cannot they abide to swallowe down the holsome pille of the veritie beeyng bittur in their mouthes. 1595 T. P. Goodwine Blanchardine ii. I iv b, Learne by me to disgest the hard and harsh pilles of vnhappie fortune. 1625 K. Long tr. Barclay's Argenis ii. i. 70 Selenissa had privately guilded those pills of suspicion, which shee gave the King against Timoclea. 1674–1857 [see gild v.1 1 b]. 1779 H. Walpole Last Jrnls. (1859) II. 338 It was a bitter pill for the King and Lord Mansfield to swallow. 1893 Times 30 May 9/3 He must make up his mind to swallow the bitter pill without delay. 1928 L. North Parasites 87 There are lots of folks to give you a lift down in the morning... It's getting up that hill at night is the pill. 1931 R. Campbell Georgiad ii. 38 He..takes his pleasures as a bitter pill Or social duty, much against his will. 1943 J. B. Priestley Daylight on Saturday xxv. 195 Fincham [sc. a factory] especially is a pill. We never ought to have allowed ourselves to have been persuaded into using that old mill. 1961 B. Fergusson Watery Maze ii. 68 Dakar was indeed a bitter pill, both professionally and politically. 1977 Times 9 Nov. 15/3 Mrs Williams is well aware of this and her decision to champion parental choice is sugar on the pill of her pledge to support local authorities in the matter of school closures. 1978 P. Bailey Leisure & Class in Victorian Eng. ii. 54 The entertainments..were devised to sugar the pill of instruction. |
c. the pill or
Pill: a contraceptive pill.
| 1957 ‘C. H. Rolph’ Human Sum 6 He gives a modestly exciting account of the quest now going on..for what laymen like myself insist on calling ‘the Pill’; and by this phrase..I mean the simple and completely reliable contraceptive taken by the mouth. 1958 A. Huxley Brave New World Revisited (1959) xii. 156 ‘The Pill’ has not yet been perfected. 1960 Economist 22 Oct. 335/1 For about thirty years a campaign has been carried on for the reform of Britain's abortion law... It..looks as if the search for the ‘Pill’—a simple, safe contraceptive—may be rewarded first. 1964 ‘J. Melville’ Murderers' Houses vii. 116 Emily knew all about the Bomb and the Pill. 1969 New Scientist 22 May 415/2 As contraceptives, IUDs are not as effective as the pill. 1970 Daily Tel. 17 July 2/8 Investigations showed that the increased risk of thrombo-embolism declined rapidly after the patient stopped taking the pill. 1975 D. Lodge Changing Places i. 20 They went on the Pill and suffered side-effects. 1975 Woman's Jrnl. Sept. 110/1 Emma's burgeoning again... It seems she can't remember to take the pill. 1976 [see on prep. 1 k]. |
d. A pill or tablet of a barbiturate or amphetamine.
slang.| 1963 [see pill popper below]. 1967 Trans-Action Apr. 7/1 Pills are ‘reds’ and ‘whites’—barbiturates and benzedrine or dexedrine. 1970 New Statesman 16 Jan. 90/1 The police were not too hip on drugs, and pills used to be passed out at clubs like ordinary cigarettes. 1972 Guardian 5 Dec. 15/3 It's impossible to discover how many adolescents use the more common illicit soft drugs—cannabis, LSD, ‘pills’ (amphetamines, barbiturates or mixtures of both). 1976 Deakin & Willis Johnny go Home ii. 38 The suburban kids' drugs: pills, uppers and downers, bennies and blueies. |
2. a. Any small globular or pill-like body; a pellet.
| 1575 Turberv. Falconrie 228 Giue her.. a pyll as bygge as a nut of Butter washt seuen or eyght tymes in freshe water. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 511 After that the little balls or pills (which be the fruit thereof) be gathered, they are laid in the Sun to dry. 1735 Dict. Polygraph. I. S v ij, Mix these two powders well,..make little pills of them with common water [in diamond-making]. 1875 Ure's Dict. Arts III. 1059 Let the mixture boil, until..it will roll into hard pills. |
b. A cannon-ball; a bullet. Also, a shell, bomb, or hand grenade;
spec., the atom bomb. Hence in
pl., ammunition.
humorous.
| c 1626 Dick of Devon ii. i. in Bullen O. Pl. II. 26, I have halfe a score pills for my Spanyards—better then purging comfitts. 1758 Capt. Tyrrel in Naval Chron. X. 359, I gave him a few of my lower-deck pills. 1823 Byron Juan viii. xii, Thirty thousand muskets flung their pills Like hail. 1841 H. J. Mercier Life in Man of War 234 A dose of Yankee pills..would take her some time to digest. 1883 United Service June 652 That serpent was rather hard on the pills... How do you account for that fellow's swallowing those shells so easily? 1888 Times (weekly ed.) 2 Nov. 15/4 They will commit suicide without the pills. 1917 P. S. Allen Let. 24 Mar. (1939) 137 The submarine proceeded to lie on the bottom..but one day they realized they were spotted. ‘Pills’ kept dropping close to them, and sending the water a-swish all round. 1919 V. Vigorito in Hamilton & Corbin Echoes from Over There iii. xi. 203 A sergeant..counts out the required number of pills (H.E. grenades). 1921 Amer. Legion Weekly 15 Apr. 22 Damn the Boche that threw the pill. 1921 Flight XIII. 618/2 Another range-finding bomb was dropped by the next Martin, and then the following machine scored the first hit with its 2,000-lb. ‘pill’, which struck the deck in the bow. 1927 L. H. Nason Three Lights from Match 220 What do they use those pills in? 1939 P. G. Hart Hist. 135th Aero Squadron 135 When I got over the town I let my pills go. 1948 Partridge Dict. Forces' Slang 142 Pills, ammunition. (Army; especially among gunners.) 1957 Daily News (N.Y.) 7 Aug. 7 A Jesuit priest who was a survivor of the A-bombing of Hiroshima 12 years ago..said he was drinking coffee when the big pill came down. 1969 M. Pei Words in Sheep's Clothing (1970) vi. 51 Interestingly, ‘the Pill’ was used around 1957 with reference to the Hiroshima atom bomb. |
c. in
pl. = billiards. Also in
sing.,
= ball n.1 4 a.
slang.| 1896 Westm. Gaz. 28 Oct. 1/3 We can play pills then till lunch, you know. 1905 Athenæum 18 Feb. 202/1 After ‘hall’ (i.e., dinner) the blood will perhaps play ‘pills’, which are billiards, for a while. 1908 Atlantic Monthly Aug. 224/2 Mr. O'Hooligan, steeped in the lore of the ‘spitball’,..and aware that the finger-tips, as the ‘pill’ leaves the hand, endow it with its rotary genius, pays this wizard [sc. the pitcher] the homage of a somewhat more enlightened reverence. 1909 P. A. Vaile Mod. Golf viii. 110 The ball is microscopic—a veritable, as it is sometimes slangily called, ‘pill’. 1916 Dialect Notes IV. 279 Pill,..golf ball. ‘Curses on that pill. It won't get off the ground.’ 1922 Wodehouse Clicking of Cuthbert ix. 203 ‘I don't mind her missing the pill,’ said the young man. ‘But I think her attitude toward the game is too light-hearted.’ 1946 B. Marshall George Brown's Schooldays 6 As a matter of fact, I think that's the dirty cad hacking that footer pill over there. 1977 Scollins & Titford Ey up, mi Duck! II. 50 Pill, ball: usually a football. |
d. A pellet of opium prepared for smoking.
| 1887 Lantern (New Orleans) 21 May 4/2 The longer end of the stem is handed the person opposite and so the pill is consumed by the party drawing in their breath, which some call the ‘long draw’. 1926 J. Black You can't Win xvii. 238 He feverishly rolled the first ‘pill’... Each succeeding pill is smaller, more carefully browned over the lamp, and smoked with increased pleasure. 1935 A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 88/1 Pill, after opium has been cooked for smoking, it takes the form of a round pill, which is placed in the pipe and smoked. 1948 [see cook v.1 2 d]. 1948 Amer. Speech XXIII. 247/1 Pill, the pellet of opium which has been prepared for smoking. 1955 U.S. Senate Hearings (1956) VIII. 4162 The opium pill must be brought to a flaming heat before being placed in position over a hole in the center of the well-heated bowl of the pipe. Ibid., ‘Cook a pill’, heat opium for smoking. |
e. slang. A cigarette.
| 1914 ‘High Jinks, Jr.’ Choice Slang 16 Pill, a cigarette. 1927 Amer. Speech II. 281/2 Pill,..cigarette. 1927 D. Hammett in Black Mask Feb. 31/2 Those pills you smoke are terrible. 1934 Amer. Ballads & Folk Songs 135 Then we rode down the hill, each a-puffin' a pill. 1966 ‘L. Lane’ ABZ of Scouse 82 Pill, a cigarette. |
f. An animal's dropping. Usu.
pl.| 1926 D. H. Lawrence David xii. 89 They have passed, letting fall promises as the goat droppeth pills. a 1930 ― Phoenix (1936) 10 So we had him [sc. a pet rabbit] upstairs, and he dropped his tiny pills on the bed. |
g. in
pl. slang. The testicles;
fig. nonsense (
cf. ball n.1 15 b).
| 1935 I. Miller School Tie xi. 158, I explained to him about the prayers... ‘Awful pills,’ I whispered; ‘but it can't be helped.’ Ibid. xiv. 270 ‘No, it really is true. Not doing much good here, you know.’ ‘Pills! Bags of pills!’ 1937 Partridge Dict. Slang 630/2 Pills,..testicles. 1968 A. Diment Gt. Spy Race vi. 77, I..wished I had followed up my elbow in the throat with a hefty boot in his peasant pills. One in the balls is worth two in the teeth—a motto of unarmed combat instructors. |
h. A small ball of fluff found on the surface of a fabric (see
pill v.
1 6 c,
pilling vbl. n. 2 b).
| 1958 New Scientist 3 Apr. 17/2 The ‘pills’ are the little balls of fibre which, in the course of wear, form on the surface of cardigans, jerseys and similar articles. 1963 A. J. Hall Textile Sci. v. 273 The formation of a pill is primarily due to a rubbing of the fabric surface to cause a number of fibre ends to protrude and then become entangled. 1969 ― Stand. Handbk. Textiles (ed. 7) v. 336 The presence of these pills gives the fabric a highly objectionable appearance... As the material is further worn so do the anchoring fibres gradually wear and weaken until they break and the pill falls off. 1970 [see pill v.1 6 c]. |
3. An objectionable person; a bore.
slang.| 1871 L. H. Bagg 4 Years at Yale 141 The name ‘Delta Phi man’ is fast becoming a synonym for ‘scrub’, and ‘pill’, and even the neutrals regard its members with a sort of pitying contempt. 1880 A. A. Hayes New Colorado (1881) v. 64 He was the worst-looking pill you ever saw. 1886 Galaxy 1 Oct. 272 Various sorts of contemptible young men are designated as..‘pills’, ‘squirts’, [etc.]. 1897 Maugham 'Liza of Lambeth iii. 41 Well, you are a pill! 1897 Flandrau Harvard Episodes 98 In the patois of her locality, she was called a ‘pill’; a girl whom Harvard men carefully avoid until it is rumoured that her family shortly intends to ‘give something’ in the paternal pill-box. 1925 Wodehouse Carry on, Jeeves! iii. 61 What's to be done?.. That pill is coming to stay here. 1939 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Ingleside xxxiii. 242 That kid is a pill. My, doesn't she think it smart to fool people! 1970 Women Speaking Apr. 5/1 If a man doesn't like a girl's looks or personality, she's a..pill. 1977 B. Garfield Recoil xi. 120 ‘Do you love your wife?’..‘You're a pill. Yes, I love her.’ |
4. (Also
Pills.) Nickname for a physician;
spec., (a member of) the Royal Army Medical Corps; a medical officer or his orderly.
slang.| 1860 Slang Dict., Pill, a doctor— Military. 1866 Harper's Mag. July 268/1 One day..the two young ‘pills’ were arguing some case. 1890 M. Williams Leaves of a Life I. iii. 30 The ‘pill’ of the regiment..had come out to inspect the men. 1899 M. Kingsley W. Afr. Stud. iii. 86 Pills, are they all mad on board that vessel or merely drunk as usual? 1915 ‘Bartimeus’ Tall Ship ix. 159 They seized the Young Doctor, who was a small man, and deposited him on the deck. ‘Couldn't you see I was asleep, Pills?’ demanded the other. 1924 ‘Nauticus’ Sea Ways & Wangles ix. 57 In some ships the sick list is so small that one of the young doctors—or ‘Pills’ as a Surgeon Lieutenant is sometimes called in order to distinguish him from his more venerable senior the P.M.O.—has even found time to take on the keeping of the ward-room wine accounts. Ibid. 58 Then again at a ward-room sing-song after dinner ‘Pills’ will often help matters along by playing the piano. 1925 Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 223 Pills,..a nickname for a Medical Officer's orderly. 1929 Papers Mich. Acad. Sci., Arts & Lett. X. 314 Pills.., the surgeon. |
5. attrib. and
Comb., as
pill-gilder,
pill-maker,
pill-man,
pill-monger,
pill-roller;
pill-boasting,
pill-dispensing,
pill-gilding,
pill-rolling,
pill-shaped,
pill-taking adjs.;
pill-bag, a bag in which pills are carried;
pill-beetle, a small beetle of the genus
Byrrhus, which, when it feigns death, contracts itself into a ball;
pill-bug, a woodlouse of the genus
Armadillidium, able to roll itself into a ball;
pill-chafer, a pilulary or tumble-dung beetle,
Ateuchus pilularius, which forms pills of dung about its eggs, and rolls these into a hole;
pill-coater: see
quot.;
pill cooker slang (see
quot.);
pill-crab = pea-crab: see
pea n.1 7;
pill-gilded a.,
fig. gilded like a pill;
pill head slang, a drug addict;
pill-machine: see
quot.;
pill-masser, a machine for compounding the mass out of which pills are made;
pill-millipede, a millipede belonging to the order Oniscomorpha,
esp. the genus
Glomeris; in
quot. 1868
= pill-bug;
pill-nettle, the Roman nettle (
Urtica pilulifera);
pill peddler,
pusher,
roller slang, a doctor or pharmacist;
pill popper slang, one who takes barbiturate or amphetamine pills freely; a barbiturate or amphetamine addict; hence
pill-popping vbl. n.;
pill-rolling vbl. n., the action of making into pills by rolling (also
fig.);
pill shooter slang, a doctor;
pill slab,
pill-tile: see
quots.;
pill-woodlouse = pill-bug;
pill-worm, a pill-milleped or the like. See also
pill-box, etc.
| 1852 Knickerbocker XL. 470 After procuring his degree, he had not the wherewithal to buy him *pill-bags. 1874 E. Eggleston Circuit Rider xx. 189 ‘And you want me to see him,’ said the doctor,..seizing his ‘pill-bags’ and donning his hat. 1930 J. F. Dobie Coronado's Children i. 43 James had been educated to medicine in Kentucky..and riding with his ‘pill bags’ over the far-stretched hills of the Colorado River satisfied his ambition. |
| 1816 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. xxi. (1818) II. 234 Another genus of insects..the *pill-beetles (Byrrhus..), have recourse to a method the reverse of this. |
| 1628 Venner Baths of Bathe in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) IV. 119 A *pill-boasting surgeon. |
| 1884 J. S. Kingsley Stand. Nat. Hist. II. 72 In common parlance these forms [of terrestrial isopod] are known as ‘sow-bugs’, ‘*pill-bugs’, and ‘wood-lice’. 1915 W. A. Bryan Nat. Hist. Hawaii xxxi. 408 The curious oval little silver-gray creature found in large numbers in damp places, under boards and stones, is usually an introduced species known to many as the pill-bug, slater, sow-bug or wood-louse. 1954 New Biol. XVII. 41 Porcellio and Armadillidium (the pill-bug) appear to be able to withstand drier conditions than the rest [of the woodlice]. 1971 E. S. Bakker Island called California xii. 191 If you examine such a decaying log, you are likely to find centipedes and pill bugs curled in the dirt. |
| 1804 Bingley Anim. Biog. 245 In its habits of life the *Pill Chafer is one of the most remarkable of the Beetle tribe. |
| 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., *Pill-coater, a machine..in which pills are coated with sugar. |
| 1929 M. A. Gill Underworld Slang, *Pill cooker, opium smoker. |
| 1872 Daily News 23 Aug., All flotsam and jetsam in connection with the sprat, the mussel, or the soft *pill-crab is welcome to the hungry gull. |
| 1809 Malkin Gil Blas vii. xvi. (Rtldg.) 7, I had taken..a dislike..to the *pill-dispensing tribe. |
| 1822 T. Mitchell Aristoph. II. 237 Such *pill-gilded superfine speeches. |
| 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xxxii, To tell how the poor mediciner, the *pill-gilder, the mortar-pounder, the poison-vender, met his fate. |
| 1764 Foote Mayor of G. i. i. 6 *Pill-gilding puppy! |
| 1965 Maclean's Mag. 4 Sept. 31/1 The population totalled..fourteen narcotic addicts, two marijuana smokers and two ‘*pillheads’, including me. 1969 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 2 July b/1 He was all boy, and a drug taker—‘A Pill Head’ in his own words. 1971 S. Houghton Current Prison Slang (MS.) 23 Pill head, amphetamine addict. 1973 Times Lit. Suppl. 16 Mar. 299/4 (Advt.), His experiences with junkies, pillheads, homosexuals and drop-outs in Soho. 1976 N. Thornburg Cutter & Bone x. 244 Oh, she was a pillhead, yeah. And maybe the world's worst housekeeper too. |
| 1893 Syd. Soc. Lex., *Pill machine,..an instrument used for rolling and cutting up a pill mass. |
| 1904 Daily Chron. 26 Feb. 4/5 The *pill-maker has a morbid secretiveness as to the soap and bread wherewith he binds his wares. |
| 1884 Health Exhib. Catal. 112/2 *Pill Massers [and] Powder Mixers for druggists. |
| 1868 Bate & Westwood Hist. Brit. Sessile-Eyed Crustacea II. 494 It [sc. Armadillo vulgaris]..is often seen running about foot-paths, rolling itself up into a ball at the least alarm. This has gained for it the name of *Pill millepede [sic]. 1899 W. T. Fernie Animal Simples 236 Hoglouse, or Pill Millipede... This Hoglouse, or Millipede, was the primitive medicinal pill. 1958 J. L. Cloudsley-Thompson Spiders, Scorpions, Centipedes & Mites xi. 17 The family Glomeridae contains the common British pill-millipede. 1967 P. A. Meglitsch Invertebr. Zool. xix. 839/1 Order Oniscomorpha. Pill millipedes. Mostly tropical millipedes..; body can be rolled into a ball. |
| 1706 E. Baynard in Sir J. Floyer Hot & Cold Bath. ii. 392 This Pulp-pated *Pill-monger. 1764 Foote Mayor of G. i. i. 7 An impudent pill-monger, who has dar'd to scandalize the whole body of the bench. |
| 1713 J. Petiver in Phil. Trans. XXVIII. 35 Roman or *Pill Nettle. |
| 1857 M. J. Holmes Meadow Brook v. 78 Why, he's a young *pill-peddler, who's taken a shine to Rosa. 1925 S. Lewis Arrowsmith xiii. 137 How could old Max have gone over to that damned pill-pedler? 1931 [see croaker 4]. 1941 J. Smiley Hash House Lingo 43 Pill peddler, druggist. |
| 1963 Time 1 Nov. 74 Can a lonely New Jersey *pill popper who sleeps on a board find enduring happiness with an ebullient Hungarian gourmet who sleeps on a rug? 1975 Publishers Weekly 27 Jan. 286/3 The author, then a sophomore at a Wisconsin law school, was a pill popper—amphetamine to get her through the days, phenobarbital to get her through the nights. |
| 1972 Jrnl. Social Psychol. LXXXVII. 121 The film illustrates the dangerous psychological and physiological effects of *pill-popping. 1977 J. Wambaugh Black Marble (1978) xii. 304 They have a pill-popping party and she..dies of an overdose. |
| 1909 J. R. Ware Passing Eng. 196/2 *Pill-pusher.., doctor. Fine example of the graphic in phraseology. 1919 H. S. Warren Ninth Company 34 Pill pusher, member of the medical corps. 1935 A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 88/1 Pill pusher, a doctor. 1961 Amer. Speech XXXVI. 147 Pill pusher, a specialist in internal medicine, as contrasted with a practitioner of the surgical specialties. Loosely, any M.D. 1969 Linn & Pearl Masque of Honor 66 Hell, I'm only a pill-pusher, Lieutenant. |
| 1917 Editor 13 Jan. 33 *Pill rollers, Hospital Corps. 1918 Yank Talk 21 ‘Why?’ asked the pill roller. 1930 J. W. Barkley No Hard Feelings! 268 He told me to get it on record with the pill-rollers. 1936 J. Curtis Gilt Kid viii. 87 He was damned if he let a lousy pill-roller know just how bad he felt. 1942 French & Sliper Army-Navy Guide 181 Pill roller, an enlisted member of the medical corps. 1968 R. Hooker MASH (1969) 175 Let the pill rollers..do it. |
| 1961 R. D. Baker Essent. Path. xxii. 597 Parkinsonism..is a chronic disorder usually of elderly persons characterized by ‘*pill-rolling’ rhythmic movements of the hands. 1972 Country Life 9 Mar. 572/3 Such things [sc. pill-slabs or -tiles] were used for pill-rolling and also, as in the more elaborate slabs..for hanging up as a sign of the owner's profession. |
| 1825 Greenhouse Comp. I. 56 Erica laxa, *pill-shaped purple flowers. |
| 1928 L. H. Nason Sergeant Eadie 337 The gallant *pill-shooters won't let us stay in these nice soft beds any longer than they can help. 1938 Partridge World of Words iii. vii. 196 Doctor becomes..slang the vet or..pill-shooter. 1941 J. Smiley Hash House Lingo 43 Pill shooter, physician. 1966 H. Marriott Cariboo Cowboy ix. 89 In those years, an average fellow was darn near down-and-out before he headed out to see a pill-shooter. |
| 1893 Syd. Soc. Lex., *Pill slab, a slab for rolling pills upon. 1960 H. Hayward Antique Coll. 218/2 Apothecaries' pill-slabs were made in tin-glazed earthenware at Lambeth. 1972 Daily Tel. 19 Jan. 9 A polychrome Delft heart-shaped pill-slab, which was used for rolling pills, was bought by Tilley for {pstlg}2,800 at Sotheby's yesterday. 1972 Country Life 9 Mar. 572/3 The plaque..which was in the same sale is a pill slab of 1664, also English Delft, and an exceptional rarity. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Pill-tile, a corrugated metallic slip for rolling pills on. |
| 1863 *Pill-woodlouse [see wood-louse 2]. 1906 Essex Naturalist XIV. 53 ‘The common armadillo’..is the old name for the pill-woodlice now known as Armadillidium. 1931 W. T. Calman in W. P. Pycraft Standard Nat. Hist. ix. 169 The common Pill Woodlouse, Armadillidium, may often be seen crawling actively about on rocks in hot sunshine. |
▪ III. pill, n.3 (
pɪl)
Forms: 1
pyll, 6
pille, 7
pile, 6–
pill, (9
pyll).
[In 16th c. pille, pill, app.:—OE. pyll, var. of pull, pul ‘pool, creek’ (Bosw.-Toller): cf. OE. pól, Welsh pwll pool.] 1. A local name, on both sides of the Bristol Channel, on the lower course of the Severn, and in Cornwall, for a tidal creek on the coast, or a pool in a creek or at the confluence of a tributary stream.
All the examples of
pull and
pyll in the charters in Kemble's
Cod. Dipl., refer to the Severn estuary or valley; so that, although no
ME. instances have yet been found, the identity of the
OE. and 16th c. word seems certain.
| a 1000 in Kemble Cod. Dipl. III. 449 [Rodden and Langley, Somerset] Andlang dice west on pull; of pylle on ford..eft on ᵹerihte innan mycela pyll; andlang pylles. Ibid., On ða dic innan holapyll; andlang holapylles. 1542–3 Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII, c. 9 §1 Dwellers next vnto the streme of Seuerne, & vnto the crikes & pilles of the same. a 1552 Leland Itin. III. 34 From Fowey Townend by North in the Haven is Chagha Mille Pille a litle uppeward on the same side. Ibid., From Lantiant Pille to Bloughan Pille or Creke nere a Mile, it crekith up but a litle. 1577–87 Harrison England i. xii. in Holinshed, In like maner from Saint Justes pill or créeke (for both signifie the same thing). 1603 Owen Pembrokeshire (1892) 66 At the Mouthe of Millford havon..at a place called west pill: where the one side of the pill you shall perceave the lyme⁓stone. c 1630 Risdon Surv. Devon §272 (1810) 282 Whereby the sea shooteth up with many branches, men call them piles, very commodious for mills. 1832 Act 2 & 3 Will. IV, c. 64 Sched. O. 23 Along the river Usk to the point at which the same is joined by a pill opposite the castle. 1840 Archæol. XXVIII. 19 The term Pyll is still used, and means a Creek subject to the tide. The pylls are the channels through which the drainings of the marshes enter the river. 1880 E. Cornwall Gloss., Pill, a pool in a creek. |
2. Comb., as
pill yawl, a sprit-rigged, three-masted boat used in the Bristol Channel.
| 1883 Boats of World 30 The Bristol Channel, where the Pill Yawls, large or small, decked or undecked, hold their own with any craft of their size. 1929 F. C. Bowen Sea Slang 103 Pill Yawl, a Bristol Channel pilot boat. |
▪ IV. pill, v.1 (
pɪl)
Forms: α. 2
pylian, 3
pilien, 3–5
pile(n, 4–5
pyle. β. 4–6
pille,
pylle, 4–7
pil, (6
pyl,
pyll), 4–
pill.
[Found in late OE. (12th c. MS.) in inflected form pyleð, in early 13th c. as peolien, pilien, 1300–1450 pilen, forms which point to an OE. *pilian, pylian, varying with *piolian, peolian: cf. clipian, clyp-, cliop-, cleop-. Pile, with single l (usually pĭle), is found down to c 1450, when it was displaced by pill and pele, both of which had appeared in R. Brunne (1303–30). Pill and pele (now peel v.1) continued as synonyms in all senses down to 17th c., when peel became the general Eng. form in branch II, pill now surviving only as a literary archaism, chiefly in sense 1; but, in the dialects, pill is widely used in the sense ‘peel’ (decorticate). No cognate words are found in Teutonic. OE. pilian was prob. ad. L. pilāre to make bare of hair, and (prob.) of skin: cf. the compound depilāre to make bald of hair or feathers, also to strip of the skin, to peel (Vulg., Ezek. xxix. 18), fig. to pluck, plunder, fleece, cheat; also OF. peler to make bald, to peel or skin (the latter sense now usually referred to OF. pel, L. pell-em), It. pelare to make bald, skin, fleece, flay. With OE. pilian, from L. pilāre, cf. OE. plantian from L. plantāre, etc. The early
ME. pile (usually
pĭle, but R. Brunne rimes
begīled,
pīled) regularly represented
OE. pilian, but
peolian naturally gave
pele (
cf. cleopian,
clepe), which was probably identified with F.
peler. The later
pill (for
pīle) was
prob. influenced by F.
piller (
= Pr.,
Sp. pillar,
Pg. pilhar):—late L.
pillāre, found in
med.L. (Du Cange) for L.
pīlāre to pillage, plunder. But no differentiation of sense between
pile,
pill,
pele, is found in
ME., nor between
pill and
peel in early
mod. Eng. and existing
Eng. dialects. It is possible however that the influence of F.
piller and
peler is to be seen in the tendency since 17th c. to differentiate
pill and
peel (so far as
pill has survived) in literary use.]
I. To pillage, rob:
= peel v.
1 1.
1. a. trans. To plunder, rifle, pillage, spoil; to commit depredation or extortion upon; to despoil (a person or country)
of (anything). Now
arch.| α a 1225 Ancr. R. 86 Uor euere me schal þene cheorl pilken & peolien [MS. C. plokin & pilien]. c 1300 Song Husbandman 19 in Pol. Songs (Camden) 150 Thus me pileth the pore that is of lute pris. Ibid. 25. c 1325 Poem Times Edw. II 320 ibid. 338 Ac were the king wel avised, and wolde worche bi skile, Litel nede sholde he have swiche pore to pile. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 42 Þat non in alle þe cuntre more suld be piled Bot euer was Eilred fouly begiled. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1282 Nabuzardan..pyled þat precious place & pakked þose godes. c 1386 Chaucer Friar's T. 64 He wolde..somne hem to the chapitre bothe two And pile [v.rr. pil, pille] the man and lete the wenche go. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VIII. 301 Spiritualte and temporalte was alway i-pyled. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 202 For thanne schal the king be piled [rime his londes tiled]. c 1450 Merlin xxvii. 556 Thei cessed neuer to robbe and pile oure londes. |
| β 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 5450 Þat he shulde haue on hem mercy, And pylle hem nat but mesurly. a 1340 Hampole Psalter ii. 9 Þou sall noght be tyraunt til þaim to pil þaim & spoile þaim. 1382 Wyclif 1 Esdras i. 36 He pilde the folc of an hundrid talentus of siluer. c 1425 Castell Persev. 450 Þis man, with woo schal be pylt..for hys folye schal make hym spylt. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 7717 Many pepill þai robbid and pild [rime kyld]. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. xviii. 19 The Scottis had brent and wasted, and pilled the countrey about. 1530 Palsgr. 657/2, I pyll, I robbe, je pille... He hath pylled me of all that ever I have. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, ii. i. 246 The Commons hath he pil'd with greeuous taxes. 1616 B. Jonson Epigr. i. liii, Having pill'd a book which no man buyes Thou wert content the authors name to lose. 1722 Wollaston Relig. Nat. vii. 149 Unless to be unjustly treated, pilled, and abused can be happiness. 1867 J. B. Rose tr. Virgil's æneid 250 The fields Ausonian they have held and pilled. |
† b. To exhaust, impoverish (soil);
= peel v.
1 1 b.
Obs.| 1594 Plat Jewell-ho. i. 51 Flax, whose seede..doth most burne, and pill the ground. 1610 W. Folkingham Art of Survey i. ix. 23 Wilde Oates pestering and pilling of Tilthes. |
† 2. absol. To commit depredation, rapine, pillage, or extortion; to rob, plunder.
Obs.| α c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 6282 Þey..pylede & robbed at ilka cost. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶695 They ne stynte neuere to pile. c 1450 Merlin 191 For thei hadde so piled and robbed thourgh the contrey and the portes where the shippes were a-ryved. |
| β 1513 More Rich. III (1883) 6 For whiche hee was fain to pil and spoyle in other places. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. IV 7 He..suffered them to robbe and pill without correction or reprefe. 1607 Shakes. Timon iv. i. 12 Large⁓handed Robbers your graue Masters are, And pill by Law. 1678 Shadwell Timon iv. ii, They govern for themselves and not the people, They rob and pill from them. |
† 3. trans. To take by violence, force, or extortion; to make a prey of.
Obs.| α 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1270 Þenne ran þay to þe relykes as robbers wylde, & pyled alle þe apparement þat pented to þe kyrke. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 17 What Schep that is full of wulle Upon his back, thei toose and pulle, Whil ther is eny thing to pile [rime skile]. |
| β c 1400 Destr. Troy 2282 In enpayryng of our persons, & pyllyng our goodes. 1513 More Rich. III, Wks. 62/1 So that there was dayly pilled fro good men & honest, gret substaunce of goodes. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, i. iii. 159 You wrangling Pyrates, that fall out, In sharing that which you haue pill'd from me. 1618 Wither Motto, Nec Habeo Juvenilia (1633) 521, I have no Lands that from the Church were pild. |
† 4. To pluck, pull, tear.
Obs.| c 1533 Latimer Let. to Morice in Foxe A. & M. (1570) 1911/2 Who can pill Pilgrimages from Idolatry? 1566 T. Stapleton Ret. Untr. to Jewel Epist., Your Borrowed Fethers pilled awaye. 1599 Nashe Lenten Stuffe Wks. (Grosart) V. 261 In spite of his hairie tuft or loue-locke, he leaues on the top of his crowne, to be pilld vp, or pullied vp to heauen by. 1605 Camden Rem. 235 Such which in Ordinaries..will pill and pull them by their wordes..as it were by the beards. |
II. To decorticate:
= peel v.
1 II.
5. a. trans. To strip of the skin, rind, or integument, as an orange, apple, potato, garlic, etc., a tree of its bark, etc.; to remove the peel of. Rarely
const. of (that which is stript off):
= peel v.
1 3. Now
arch. (in Bible of 1611), and
dial.| α [a 1225 Ancr. R. 150 Þeonne is þe figer bipiled, & te rinde irend of.] 1382 Wyclif Gen. xxx. 37 And riendis drawun awey; in thilke that weren pilde semede whytnes [1388 and whanne the ryndis weren drawun awei, whitnesse apperide in these that weren maad bare]. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. x. 81 To rubbe and to rely russhes to pilie [v.r. pil]. |
| β c 1420 [see pilled 1]. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 399/1 Pyllyn, or schalyn nottys, or garlyk, vellifico. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §134 Yf there be any okes..fell them and pyll them and sell the barke. 1530 Palsgr. 657/2 Pyll these oignons whyle I skumme the potte. 1535 Coverdale Gen. xxx. 38 The staues that he had pilled [1611 ibid. the rods which he had pilled, 1885 R.V. peeled]. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. i. iii. 85 The skilfull shepheard pil'd me certaine wands, And..stucke them vp before the fulsome Ewes. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xxvi. 101 We met with three men that were pilling flax. 1678 Ray Prov. (ed. 2) 53 Pill a fig for your friend, and a peach for your enemy. 1721 Bailey, To peel, to pill or take off the rind. 1745 MS. Indenture (Sheffield), The burgesses may pill and fell timber trees. 1865 T. F. Knox tr. Suso's Life 226 The sisters went..to pill the flax which they had gathered. 1879 G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk. s.v., They'n al'ays got a stick to pill. [In E.D.D. from Yorksh. to Somerset.] |
b. To strip off (bark, skin, etc.); to pare off:
= peel v.
1 3 b. Often with
off. Also
fig.| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 399/1 Pyllyn, or pylle bark, or oþer lyke, decortico. c 1440 Anc. Cookery in Househ. Ord. (1790) 436 Take hom [chickens] up and pylle of the skynne. 1542 Boorde Dyetary xxi. (1870) 283 If the pyth or skyn be pylled of. 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 1167 Ay me, the Barke pild from the loftie Pine, His leaues will wither. 1599 Hakluyt Voy. II. 264 Cinamon..is pilled from fine young trees. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iv. xxiv. 278 This fruite is most vsuall in Mexico, having a thinne skinne, which may be pilled like an apple. a 1680 Butler Rem. (1759) II. 81 If you do but pill the Bark off him he deceases immediately. [1887 N.W. Linc. Gloss. 405, I seed 'em pillin' bark e' Mr. Nelthorpe woods..to daay.] |
† c. To make or form by peeling.
Obs. rare.
| 1535 Coverdale Gen. xxx. 37 But Iacob toke staues of grene wyllies,..and pylled [1611 pilled, 1885 R.V. peeled] whyte strekes in them. |
6. a. intr. Of skin, bark, etc.: To become detached, come off, scale or peel
off. (The earliest recorded sense.)
b. Of animal bodies, trees, etc.: To become bare of skin or bark; also, to admit of being peeled or barked.
= peel v.
1 4. Now
dial.| c 1100 (MS. a 1200) Sax. Leechd III. 114 Þis lace cræft sceal to þan handan þe þæt fell of pyleþ. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 199 Al his fleisch wole pile & alle hise heeris wolen falle awei. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §134 To fall..all okes as sone as they wyll pyll. 1545 T. Raynalde Byrth Mankynde i. ii. (1634) 19 The which thin skin..skaleth or pilleth off the hands. 1611 Bible Tobit xi. 13 The whitenesse pilled away from..his eyes. a 1631 Donne Serm. xcv. IV. 238, I have seen Marble buildings, and..a face of Marble hath pilled off and I see brick bowels within. 1631 R. H. Arraignm. Whole Creature vi. 46 Neither doth the Tree wither so long as the sap is found at the roote, though the barke pill, the flowers fall. 1886 S.W. Linc. Gloss. s.v., They'll not cut them [oaks] while [till] the bark'll pill. |
c. To gather into small balls of fluff on the surface of a fabric (said of the fibre, and of the fabric as a whole). Hence
pilled ppl. a., of or pertaining to fibres that have gathered in this way.
| 1962 Which? Aug. 240/1 One [Orlon cardigan]..was starting to pill after 10 washes. 1970 Cabinet Maker & Retail Furnisher 23 Oct. 173/2 Cloth so blended ‘pilled’—fluffed, if you prefer it—very badly. Ibid., While most worsted and woollen cloths, like a woollen carpet, tend to pill in the beginning, these pills wear off quickly and never recur. 1970 Which? Oct. 301/3 Trousers didn't pill, but as they were knitted some snagged. 1971 Daily Tel. 19 Apr. 12/4 That curious pilled wool we wore a few years ago, bumpy as if the wool had come out in a rash. 1971 New Yorker 21 Aug. 46/2 (Advt.), An exclusive Hathaway process that keeps the collar from pilling (i.e., fuzzing) throughout the life of the shirt. |
7. a. trans. To make bare of hair, remove the hair from, make bald; to remove (hair).
Obs. [
Cf. F.
peler ‘to bauld or pull the haire off’ (
Cotgr.).]
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 186 Þou schalt anoynte his heed wiþ þe oynement þat wole pile awei þe heeris. c 1410 Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) xii, Þat one is cleped quyc maniewes, þe whiche pileth [Douce MS. pilleth, Royal MS. pelyth] þe houndes and breketh hyr skynnes in many places. 1591 Percival Sp. Dict., Pelar, to pill, to make balde, to make bare, depilare, deglabrare. 1612 tr. Benvenuto's Passenger i. iv. §16. 265 Tell him that I will pill his beard, hair by hair. 1648 Herrick Hesper., Duty to Tyrants, Doe they first pill thee, next pluck off thy skin? |
† b. intr. To lose hair, become bald.
Obs.| c 1386– [see pilled ppl. a. 2]. 1523 Fitzherb. Surv. xli. (1539) 58 b, Those beastis in the house haue short here and thynne, and towarde Marche they wyll pylle and be bare. 1614 Markham Cheap. Husb. ii. vii. (1668) 75 The Closh or Clowse which causeth a Beast to pill and loose the hair from his Neck. |
8. trans. To bare (land) by eating or shaving off, or cutting down crops, etc., close to the ground. [
Cf. F.
peler la terre, ‘enlever le gazon’ (Littré).]
| 1555 W. Watreman Fardle Facions App. 347 Pille ye not the countrie, cutting doune the trees. 1615 W. Lawson Orch. & Gard. (1623) 12 Whosoeuer makes such Walls, must not pill the ground in the Orchard, for getting earth. 1903 Eng. Dial. Dict., Pill..2 To graze land very closely. Som. I put some sheep in to pill the field. |
III. 9. Phrase.
to pill (peel) and poll, also
poll and pill (
lit. to make bare of hair and skin too): to ruin by depredations or extortions; to rifle, strip bare, pillage; also
absol.; rarely, to plunder or rob
of something.
Obs. or
arch. (Common in 16–17th c. See also
poll v.)
| 1528 Tindale Obed. Chr. Man Prol., Wks. (1573) 105 They haue no such authoritie of God so to pylle and polle as they do. 1545 Brinklow Compl. ii. (1874) 14 The officers robbe his grace, and polle and pylle his leage subiectys in his name. 1550 Crowley Epigr. 278 Thus pore men are pold and pyld to the bare. c 1557 Abp. Parker Ps. liv, They have no God before theyr eyes, they me both pill and powle. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 30 No man ought to poole and pill his brother. a 1652 Brome City Wit iv. i, Churches poule the People, Princes pill the Church. 1675 Crowne Country Wit ii. i, 'Tis a rare thing to be an absolute prince, and have rich subjects; Oh, how one may pill 'em and poll 'em. 1844 Browning Colombe's Birthday i, We tax and tithe them, pill and poll, They wince and fret enough, but pay they must. |
| a 1635 Naunton Fragm. Reg. (Arb.) 27 His Father dying in ignominie, and at the Gallows, his Estate confiscate, and that for peeling and polling. 1687 tr. Sallust, Life 3 By Peeling and Polling the Country, he so well lin'd his Coffers. 1865 Kingsley Herew. xxx, Us..whom he hath polled and peeled till we are [etc.]. |
▪ V. pill, v.2 (
pɪl)
[f. pill n.2 Cf. to dose.] 1. a. trans. To dose with pills.
| 1736 Fielding Pasquin iv. i, Handle her pulse, potion and pill her well. 1775 J. Adams in Fam. Lett. (1876) 58, I found Dr. Young here, who..has pilled and electuaried me into pretty good order. 1850 Fraser's Mag. XLII. 345 The..patient is again pilled and purged. |
b. fig. (see
pill n.2 2 b).
| 1900 Daily News 14 May 3/2 Our fellows will probably pill you with their rifle fire. |
2. To make or form into pills.
rare.
| 1882 in Ogilvie (Annandale). |
3. a. To reject by ballot; to blackball.
slang.| 1855 Thackeray Newcomes xxx, He was coming on for election at Bays', and was as nearly pilled as any man I ever knew in my life. 1883 Cornh. Mag. Oct. 412 (Heading) On being ‘Pilled’. 1894 Sala London up to Date v. 68 A practically accurate opinion as to how many candidates will be elected..and how many will be ‘pilled’. |
b. To fail (a candidate) in an examination.
slang.| 1908 A. S. M. Hutchinson Once aboard Lugger i. i. 15 ‘Your examination?’ George half turned away. The bitterest moment of a sad day had come. He growled: ‘Pipped.’ ‘Pipped?’ ‘Pilled.’ ‘Pilled?’ ‘Spun... I failed. I was referred for three months.’ 1925 W. Deeping Sorrell & Son xxii. 208 Gorringe had a sick face... ‘Pilled,’ thought Kit, and was not sorry, for Gorringe needed a course of pilling. |
Hence
ˈpilling vbl. n.| 1882 Sat. Rev. 18 Mar. 324 The pastime of ‘pilling’ seems to have begun at a large non-political club. 1883 Cornh. Mag. Oct. 412 The ‘pilling’..is the delicate expression in club circles for black-balling. |