▪ I. quill, n.1
(kwɪl)
Forms: 4–7 quil, 5 quyl, qwil, qvylle, 6 quyll, 6– quill.
[Of obscure etym.: cf. LG. quiele, G. kiel, dial. keil (MHG. kîl), quill (of a feather).]
1. † a. A hollow stem or stalk, as that of a reed; a smooth piece of stem between two joints. Obs.
| 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy i. vi, They take a quil..or a large can, And in the ende this stone they set. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 421/1 Qvylle, stalke, calamus. 1688 R. Holme Armoury ii. 84/2 Of a Tree..the Quill, is the Cane, or space between two such joints. |
b. A piece of reed or other hollow stem on which yarn is wound; hence, a bobbin, spool, or pirn of any material.
| 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 613/1 Spola, a Quyl, or a Spole. 1547 Salesbury Welsh Dict., Prikied edafedd, a quyll of yorne. 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry iv. vii. (1611) 204 Hee beareth Argent three Weauer's Shuttles Sable tipped and furnished with Quils of Yarne. 1635 Roxb. Ball. (1890) VII. 142 If I should a Weaver have,..Either wind silk, or fill his quills, 'tis either I can fit. 1771 Mrs. Delany Lett. Ser. ii. I. 382 Neither by force or art can I get the present quill off the spindle. 1831 G. R. Porter Silk Manuf. 221 The quantity of silk wound upon each of these quills is necessarily but small. 1886 Elworthy W. Som. Word-bk., Quill, to wind the yarn from the hank or skein on to a bobbin, called a quill, for the weaver's shuttle. |
c. A musical pipe, made of a hollow stem. In
pl. spec. = pan-pipe (
U.S.).
| 1567 Turberv. Epit., etc. 56 Assist mee with your skilfull Quilles and listen when I call. 1633 P. Fletcher Purple Isl. xi. ii, Who now shall teach to change my oaten quill For trumpet 'larms. 1710 Philips Pastorals iv. 28 Yet Colinet..My fingers guided on the tuneful Quill. 1749 Collins Superstit. Highlands ii, There, must thou wake perforce thy Doric quill. 1878 Browning Poets Croisic xlviii, Joining the Delphic quill and Getic trump. 1883 J. C. Harris Nights with Uncle Remus xiii. 69 Uncle Remus declared that Brother Rabbit could perform upon the quills, an accomplishment to which none of the other animals could lay claim. 1886 Century Mag. Feb. 521/2 But to show how far the art of playing the ‘quills’ could be carried..see this ‘quill tune’..from a gentleman who heard it in Alabama. 1952 B. Ulanov Hist. Jazz in Amer. (1958) iii. 20 The homemade instruments of the Negro are described in some detail, the tambo, bones, quills, fife, triangle. 1970 Western Folklore XXIX. 231 Blues singer Big Joe Williams..recalls..a two-stringed cigar box guitar, a cane fife, a set of pan pipes or ‘quills’, and an upturned bucket, which served as a drum. |
d. A piece of cinnamon or cinchona bark curled up in the form of a tube. Also, the extent to which such bark curls up in drying.
| 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) V. 12/2 The bark which is rolled up into short thick quills..was esteemed the best. 1811 A. T. Thomson Lond. Disp. (1818) 116 The secondary [characteristics]..are exterior coat, fracture, weight, thickness, and quill. 1852 C. Morfit Tanning & Currying (1853) 86 It is known to commerce as cassia, and comes in single quills. 1880 C. R. Markham Peruv. Bark 71 The bark which comes from Loxa is in the minutest quills. |
e. The whistle of a steam locomotive.
U.S.| 1945 F. H. Hubbard Railroad Avenue ii. 9 With its interpretive tone the ballast scorcher could make that quill say its prayers or scream like a banshee. 1961 Listener 24 Aug. 270/2 The fabled Casey Jones..was a ‘quill artist’ of note, who always carried with him his own quill (that is what they used to call a chime in the deep South). |
f. An improvised straw or channel through which narcotics may be sniffed or smoked; the narcotic itself.
U.S.| 1935 A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 94/2 Quill, choicest grade opium. 1970 C. Major Dict. Afro-Amer. Slang 95 Quill, folded matchbook cover in which a narcotic is held and smoked or sniffed. 1971 Black Scholar Sept. 36/1 He..rolled a ten dollar bill up into a quill and gave the coke and quill to Christine, who snorted up half of the line on the card. |
2. † a. A small pipe or tube;
esp. a small water-pipe.
Obs.| c 1433 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) II. 429 That thei mowe take oonly to their vse a qwil out of the pipe of the conduyt. 1579–80 North Plutarch (1676) 297 He cut off the pipes and quils private men had made to convey Water into their Houses and Gardens. 1660 Boyle New Exp. Phys. Mech. vi. 57 We took a slender Quill of Glass which happen'd to be at hand. 1712 J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 197 The Bore of the Quill ought to be four Times less than the Bore..of the Conduit-Pipe. |
† b. A tap or faucet.
Obs.| 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. xv. (1623) 811 With what quill these wines were vented from the setled Lees. 1611 Cotgr., Guille, the quill, or faucet of a wine vessel. 1727 Boyer Dict. Royal II, The Quill (or Tap) of a Barrel. |
c. The hollow steel mandrel of a seal-engraver's lathe, into which the engraving tools are fitted.
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2081/2 The quill is of steel, about 2 inches long and ½ inch in diameter. |
d. A hollow sleeve rotating in bearings which is used to transmit the drive from a motor to a concentrically-mounted axle.
| 1910 Engineering 12 Aug. 246/3 A gearless concentric motor for each driving-axle is mounted on a quill flexibly connected to the driving-wheels. 1930 Ibid. 6 June 722/1 Two new types of drive had been developed... The first consisted of a geared quill surrounding the driving axle and carrying two crankpins, the latter being connected by a flexible linkage to two crankpins on the driving wheels. 1968 D. W. & M. Hinde Electr. Traction Systems & Equipment ii. 32/2 A certain amount of experimental work has been carried out with the motor armature shaft of the hollow or quill pattern. 1975 Bram & Downs Manuf. Technol. vii. 208 The spindle rotates in the quill to provide the rotary motion for cutting tools. |
3. a. The tube or barrel of a feather, the part by which it is attached to the skin. Sometimes extended to include the shaft, or used loosely in the sense of ‘feather’ (
esp. one of the strong wing- or tail-feathers) and
poet. for ‘wing’.
| 1555 Eden Decades 163 Suche thinges as they make of fethers and quilles impaled with golde. 1575 Turberv. Faulconrie 331 The seconde kinde of Teynte which fretteth the principals of a Hawke to the verie Quill. 1593 Queen Elizabeth Boeth. iv. met. i. 76 Spedy quilles haue I That fur aboue the Pole do reache. a 1682 Sir T. Browne Tracts 83 A hard reed about the compass of a Goose or Swans quill. 1713 C'tess of Winchilsea Misc. Poems 216 No Quill, thence pull'd, was shap'd into a pen. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) V. 102 One of the quills was two feet four inches long; and the barrel, or hollow part, was six inches and three quarters. 1834 M{supc}Murtrie Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 114 The bony tail..has a range of large quills, which..assist in supporting the bird. |
b. The feather of a large bird (usually a goose) formed into a pen by pointing and slitting the lower end of the barrel.
brother, knight of the quill: see
brother,
knight.
to draw the quill: see
draw.
| 1552 [see goose-quill]. 1581 J. Derricke Image Irel. (1883) 19 Lorde guide my quiuryng quill. 1591 Florio 2nd Fruites 97 A serpents tooth bites not so ill, As dooth a schollers angrie quill. 1663 Boyle Usef. Exp. Nat. Philos. i. iv. 87 The quill that a philosopher writes with, being dipt in ink [etc.]. 1704 Swift T. Tub i. (1709) 32 A quill worn to the pith in the service of the State. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. 10 June, Let. i, His house is open to all unfortunate brothers of the quill. 1871 B. Taylor Faust (1875) II. ii. i. 84 The quill..Wherewith his compact with the devil he signed. |
c. A plectrum formed of the quill of a feather, used for plucking the strings of a musical instrument; in instruments of the harpsichord type, a piece of crow-quill, fixed on a jack and set in motion by the keys.
| 1552 Huloet, Quyll, with whiche a musician vseth to play to saue his fingers, or any lyke thinge, plectrum. 1647 Ward Simp. Cobler 84 The world's a well strung fidle, mans tongue the quill. 1697 Dryden æneid vi. 879 His flying fingers, and harmonious quill, Strike sev'n distinguish'd notes. 1776 Burney Hist. Mus. (1789) I. ix. 150 To produce a clear tone..by the common means of quills or hammers. |
d. The float of a fishing-line, made of a quill.
| a 1639 Sir H. Wootton On a Bank 8 (Percy Soc.) VI. 17 There stood my friend, with patient skill Attending of his trembling quill. 1650 E. Powel in Walton Angler (1875) 13 This Fisherman..sits by a brook, watching a quill. a 1678 Marvell Upon Appleton House 649 But now away my Hooks, my Quills, And Angles, idle Utensils. |
e. A toothpick made of a quill.
| 1784 Cowper Task ii. 628 He picks clean teeth, and, busy as he seems With an old tavern quill, is hungry yet. |
f. Mining. A blasting-fuse, consisting of a quill filled with powder (
Cent. Dict. 1891).
g. Phr.
the pure quill: see
pure a. 8 d.
4. One of the hollow sharp spines forming part of the covering of a porcupine.
| 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. v. 20 Make..each particular haire to stand an end, Like Quilles vpon the fretfull Porpentine. 1675 Grew Disc. Tastes Plants vi. §9 As the Quills in the Skin of a Porcupine. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) IV. 108 All these quills..incline backwards, like the bristles of an hog. 1855 Longfellow Hiaw. iv. 41 Leggings, Richly wrought with quills and wampum. |
† 5. One of the cylindrical plaits or folds of a ruff (Nares); ? a quilled ruff.
Obs.| a 1828 The Gardener xi. in Child Ballads IV. 213 The lily white to be your smock..And the jelly-flower to be your quill. |
6. A quill-gnat (see 8 b).
| 1899 Westm. Gaz. 2 June 3/2 They prefer to kill their..fish with smaller patterns—a red quill, or a Wickham's Fancy. |
7. (In full
quill-stroke.) A particular stroke in the game of billiards.
| 1896 R. D. Walker in W. Broadfoot Billiards 370 The so-called quill or feather stroke, which was tabooed years and years ago. 1901 Q. Rev. Apr. 483 What was known as the feather stroke or the ‘quill’ Mardon considered extremely serviceable. |
8. attrib. and
Comb. a. General combs., as (sense 1 b)
quill-boy,
quill-machine,
quill-winder; (sense 3 or 3 b)
quill-barrel,
quill-case,
quill-cleaner,
quill-dealer,
quill-dresser,
quill-employment,
quill-end,
quill-gun,
quill-man,
quill-merchant,
quill-nib,
quill-pen,
quill-shaped adj.,
quill-timber,
quill-vendor; (sense 4)
quill-darting,
quill-like adjs.| 1770 T. S. Kuckahn in Phil. Trans. LX. 314 An incision just big enough to introduce the end of a *quill-barrel. 1812 Southey in Q. Rev. VIII. 351 What quantity of quill-barrel ought to be allowed for a clerk's daily consumption. |
| 1727 Boyer Dict. Royal II, *Quill-Boy, Epeulier. |
| 1795 J. Woodforde Diary 28 Mar. (1929) IV. 186 Mr. Thorne..applied a Caustic to it just touching the part with it with a small kind of very fine hair pencil in a *Quill-Case. |
| 1968 Canadian Antiques Collector Nov. 25/2 It would seem that the ink bottle was usually on the right of the inkstand, the pounce on the left, with the quill standing in the central bottle, which was the *quill cleaner. 1971 Country Life 1 July 23/1 This shelf carried writing equipment: inkpot, quill cleaner and sand box. |
| 1670 S. Clarke 4 Plant. Amer. 32 *Quil-darting Porcupines and Rackcoones. a 1735 Arbuthnot & Pope Mem. M. Scriblerus xiv, The quill-darting Porcupine. |
| 1885 Census Instruct., *Quill Dresser, Dealer. |
| 1764 Antiq. in Ann. Reg. 171/2 The most ancient grant of nobility in France to a *quill employment was to the King's secretaries. |
| 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVII. 692/2 The small *quill ends which touch the strings. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 454 Into this the quill end of the feather must be plunged. |
| 1617 Lane Contn. Sqr.'s T. (1887) 37 What *quill-gon bownces dares shee not let flye? |
| 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. xxx. 408 The cheeks and lips are completely masked by the heavy *quill-like bristles. |
| 1846 G. Dodd Textile Manuf. Gt. Brit. VI. 182 Sail-making. The *quill machines..have a considerable number of quills arranged in a row, and made to rotate rapidly. |
| 1709 Steele Tatler No. 19 ¶2 Small *Quill-men and Transcribing Clerks. 1830 Scott Ayrsh. Trag. i. i, Quintin the quillman, Quintin the comptroller. |
| 1813 Examiner 8 Feb. 86/1 J. Jones,..*quill merchant. |
| 1853 Simmonds Dict. Trade 310 *Quill-nibs. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 1848/2 Bramah probably first suggested quill-nibs. |
| 1862 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 109 A couple of good *quill-pens of your own making. |
| 1852 C. Morfit Tanning & Currying (1853) 86 Cinnamon of Ceylon..is found in commerce in thin *quill-shaped pieces. |
| 1650 Fuller Pisgah iii. v. 419 They conceive this third..Temple never had other then paper-wals, inke-mortar, and *quil-timber. |
| 1833 J. Holland Manuf. Metal II. 324 The *quill-venders have found their occupation to fall off. |
| 1885 Census Instruct., *Quill Winder. |
b. Special combs.;
quill-back, an American fish of the genus
Carpiodes; the spearfish (
Cent. Dict. 1891);
quill-bark, cinchona bark in the form of quills;
quill-bit, a boring-tool for a brace, having a hollow barrel (Simmonds
Dict. Trade 1853);
quill-coverts, the feathers which cover the base of the quill-feathers;
quill drive, (the apparatus for) the transmission of power from a motor by means of a quill (sense 2 d);
quill-feather, one of the stiff, comparatively large, feathers arranged in two rows along the edge of a bird's wing; also, one of the similar feathers of the tail;
quill-gnat, a species of gnat, or an imitation of it used in angling;
quill-jack, a jack fitted with a quill (see 3 c);
quill shaft = sense 2 d above;
quill-stroke (see 7);
quill-tail (coot) U.S., the spiny-tailed duck (
Cent. Dict.);
quill-tool,
-tube (see
quots.);
quill-turn,
-wheel, a wheel for winding spools;
quillwork, a type of embroidery, using the quills of a porcupine, done by North American Indians; hence
quillworker;
quill-wort, an aquatic plant of the genus
Isoetes,
esp. I. lacustris, Merlin's grass, having quill-like leaves.
| 1785 Gentl. Mag. LV. 61 The red-bark is in much less esteem abroad than the *quill-bark. 1880 C. R. Markham Peruv. Bark 72 The root-shoots had scarcely grown to a sufficient size to yield anything but quill bark. |
| 1912 Sheldon & Hausmann Electr. Traction 306/1 (Index), *Quill drive. 1927 R. E. Dickinson Electr. Trains vi. 111 There are several other forms of suspension; e.g. the quill drive in which the motor-armature is on a hollow ‘quill’ inside which is the axle of the wheel. 1970 Lightband & Bicknell Direct Current Traction Motor iii. 47 The great majority of direct-current traction motors in service are either axle-suspended or fitted with some form of quill drive. |
| 1766 Pennant Zool. (1768) I. 156 The *quil feathers are dusky, barred with red. 1854 Owen Skel. & Teeth in Circ. Sc., Organ. Nat. I. 223 The ulna is often impressed by the insertions of the great quill-feathers of the wing. |
| 1867 F. Francis Bk. Angling 189 The *Quill gnat..makes its appearance late in April. 1891 Field 7 Mar. 342/2 In a disused fly-book..reposes a small collection of quill gnats. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 1691/1 The substitution of *quill-jacks for the hammer. |
| 1934 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XXXVIII. 738 The turbine itself is mounted on a *quill shaft which telescopes the pinion shaft, the latter being attached to the quill shaft at the low pressure end of the turbine. 1949 Ibid. LIII. 143/1 As originally designed the gear was a compound epicyclic gear, the sun gear of which was driven by a quill shaft from the front end of the compressor. |
| 1859 Sala Gas-light & D. ii. 23 Another is fluting columns with a thin brush called a ‘*quill tool’. |
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Quill-tubes, those in use with port-fires for firing guns before the introduction of detonating and friction tubes. |
| 1617 Minsheu Ductor, A *Quil-turne, that turnes the quilles, or spoyling Wheele. 1886 Elworthy W. Som. Word-bk., Quill-turn, the hand-wheel and spindle upon which the bobbin or quill is wound for the weaver's use. |
| 1825 Knapp & Baldw. Newgate Cal. III. 379/1 The block of the *quill-wheel. |
| 1843 Knickerbocker XXII. 164 The Indians prepare it in bark, curiously ornamented with *quill work and beads. 1908 Encycl. Relig. & Ethics I. 827/2 Closely akin to beadwork is quillwork, especially among the Plains Indians (now done in its purity by few except the Eskimos, the tribes of the north-west coast, and the northern Athapascans). 1966 L. Cohen Beautiful Losers i. 97 With a bowed head she received the compliments which the quillwork on her deerskin gown evoked. |
| 1976 San Antonio (Texas) Express 8 Dec. 5-b/2 *Quillworkers' tools have not changed. Today they still consist of some awls, strands of sinew and a knife. |
| 1787 tr. Linnæus' Fam. Plants II. 832 *Quillwort. 1796 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) III. 300 Quillwort. At the bottom of lakes. 1864 T. Moore Brit. Ferns 103 The European Quillwort, or Merlin's Grass. |
Hence
ˈquilldom, the province of literature.
ˈquill-less a., not provided with quills.
| 1888 Century Mag. XXXVI. 611/1 [A porcupine's] quilless and vulnerable under side. 1891 I. Zangwill Bachelors' Club 69, I was recognised in quilldom as..brilliant. |
▪ II. † quill, n.2 Obs. rare.
Also 6
quille.
[? a. OF. *quille = F. cueille gathering, harvest, n. f. cueillir (OF. quillir, etc.) to gather, cull v.1] 1. = coil n.3| 1588 Book of Charges July (Dom. St. Papers, P.R.O. CCXV. 88) A Quille of ropes wayeing xxvli. |
2. in the (or a) quill: In a body; in combination or concert.
to jump in quill, to act simultaneously or in harmony.
| 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, i. iii. 4 Let's stand close..and then wee may deliuer our Supplications in the Quill. 1687 Hist. Sir J. Hawkwood x. 18 Nor..did they less jump in quill; for just as he was debating this matter with himself, they came down to him, and besought him that he would dismiss them. c 1690 Roxb. Ball. II. 136 Thus those Females were all in a Quill, and following on their Pastime still. |
▪ III. quill, v. (
kwɪl)
[f. quill n.1] 1. trans. To form into small cylindrical plaits or folds resembling a quill; to goffer.
| 1712 Steele Spect. No. 478 ¶12 It might have been as expensive in queen Elisabeth's time only to wash and quill a ruff. 1758–65 Goldsm. Ess. v. Wks. (Globe) 296/1 His cravat seemed quilled into a ruff. 1865 Art Jrnl. No. 321 91/2 ‘Quilled’ her frills as usual. 1869 Mrs. Whitney We Girls v. (1873) 82 Ribbon that she was quilling up. |
2. To cut the quills off (a wing).
rare—1.
| 1710–11 Swift Lett. (1767) III. 115 As for Patrick's bird..His wings have been quilled thrice, and are now up again. |
3. a. To cover with, or as with, quills.
| 1783 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Ode to R.A.'s Wks. 1812 I. 64 Thou'rt like a hedgehog quill'd By the dire shafts of merciless Ridicule. 1814 Southey Roderick xvii, His whole body had been gored with wounds, And quill'd with spears. |
b. To fit (a harpsichord) with quills.
4. intr. To wind thread or yarn on a quill; to fill spools.
| c 1640 [see quilling vbl. n.]. 1825 Knapp & Baldw. Newgate Cal. III. 377/1 Quilling, i.e. putting silk on a shuttle. 1851 S. Judd Margaret ii. (1871) 5 The child Margaret sits..with a small wheel, winding spools, in our vernacular ‘quilling’. 1886 [see quill n.1 1 b]. |
5. trans. To write (with a quill), to pen.
| 1890 J. Coghill Poems, Songs, & Sonnets 67 This screed whilk he's juist new dune quillin'. 1945 J. Dickson in Sc. Nat. Dict. (1968) VII. 309/3 For each and a' the cheque's been quilled Wi' nae successors. 1977 Even. Standard 18 July 13/2 In 1677..Henry Vaughan quilled the immortal lines [etc.]. |
▪ IV. quill obs. form of
while.