▪ I. still, n.1
(stɪl)
Also 6 styll, stil, 8 Sc. stiel, 8–9 Sc. stell.
[f. still v.1]
1. An apparatus for distillation, consisting essentially of a close vessel (alembic, retort, boiler) in which the substance to be distilled is subjected to the action of heat, and of arrangements for the condensation of the vapour produced. Also applied to the alembic or retort separately.
| 1562 W. Bullein Bulwarke, Bk. Simples (1579) 85 b, A horned Still. Bagpipe Still... Pelican Still. 1563 T. Gale Antidot. ii. 87 Then styll them in a common styll, and keepe thys water to your vse. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iv. 193 Yf you do it in Stils made of Glasse,..your water shal haue the very taste, sauour, and propertie of the hearbe. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 91 Not unlike to the damaske Rose, which is sweeter in the Still then on the stalke. 1620 Unton Inventories (1841) 27 In the Still Howse. iiij stills, iij brasse panns, w{supt}{suph} table and presse. 1655 Culpepper etc. Riverius i. i. 8 Put them in a Retort, or Still so called. 1731 Arbuthnot Aliments iii. (1735) 68 This fragrant Spirit is obtain'd from all Plants which are in the least aromatick, by a cold Still. 1785 Burns Scotch Drink xix, Thae curst horse⁓leeches o' th' Excise, Wha mak the Whisky stells their prize! 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. l, A charcoal fire, on which there was a still working. 1885 Lock Workshop Rec. Ser. iv. 121/2 All ordinary distilling apparatus consists of 2 parts—one in which the heat is applied to the body to be distilled and vaporised (called the ‘still’). 1899 E. J. Parry Chem. Essential Oils 200 The herbs [sc. mint] are distilled in the green state... In England most of the stills used hold from 4 to 8 cwt. of herbs. 1901 Bolas & Leland Perfumes 14 None of the domestic stills sold for purifying water..are well suited for making perfumes. |
| fig. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 101 And witte..beeing purified in the styll of wisdome. 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. ii. Impost. 518 God's grace, whose Still Extracts from dross of thine audacious ill, Three unexpected goods. 1873 Spencer Stud. Sociol. xi. 289 When the fermenting mass of political passions and beliefs is put into the electoral still, there distils [etc.]. |
b. small-still (whisky) Sc. and Anglo-Irish: ‘whisky supposed to be of superior quality, because the product of a small still’ (Jam.).
| 1822 [J. Wilson] Lights & Shad. Scott. Life 382 Taste the whisky, Mr. Gordon—it is sma' still, and will do harm to no man. 1835 Carrick Laird of Logan (1841) 312 Anither class contented themsells with sma'-stell whisky, made intil toddy. 1839 John Bull 11 Aug. 381/1 Retiring with his ‘Riverence’ to discuss small-still and the claims of the ‘parsecuted Clargy’. 1856 Lever Martins of Cro' M. x. 87 That is ‘poteen’... It's the small still that never paid the King a farthing. 1861 G. H. Kingsley Sport & Trav. (1900) 245 A couple of black bottles, which ought to contain whisky of the smallest still. |
2. † a. = still-room. Obs. b. A distillery.
| 1533 in Froude's Hist. Eng. (1870) I. 44 In the Still beside the Gate. Two old road saddles, one bridle, a horse-cloth. 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 351 Shee gives that [Physick] a nobler way; more from her Purse than still, or Closet. 1845 S. Judd Margaret i. xv, He engaged his services as night⁓warden of the Still... The ‘Still,’ or distillery, was a smutty, clouded, suspicious-looking building. |
3. A chamber or vessel for the preparation of bleaching-liquor by the action of hydrochloric acid on manganese dioxide, or for the preparation of chlorine, of alkalis, etc.
| 1853 in Abridgm. Specif. Patents, Acids etc. (1869) 377 Improved apparatus for manufacturing chlorine or chlorides. [This consists in substituting for the] common leaden or stone still [..an iron vessel or still, having a lining of fire-bricks or tiles, etc.]. 1880 J. Lomas Man. Alkali Trade 272 The liquid hydrochloric acid obtained from the sulphate of soda process is run upon a known weight of manganese binoxide in a ‘still.’ The best form of still is shown in Figs. 188 and 189. 1880 Lunge Manuf. Sulphuric Acid & Alkali III. 26 The stills, B, B1, B2, B3 communicate with each other by a distributor C,..which permits any boiler to be isolated without interrupting the distillation in the others. 1910 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 11) I. 684/1 (art. Alkali) Both these reactions are carried out in tall cylindrical columns or ‘stills,’ consisting of a number of superposed cylinders, having perforated horizontal partitions, and provided with a steam-heating arrangement in the enlarged bottom portion. |
4. attrib. and Comb., as still-cabin, still-cock, still-fire, still house, still nose; still-bottoms, ‘what remains in the still after working the wash into low wines’ (Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v.); still-hanger (see quot.); still-hunting, the search for illicit stills; still-liquor, bleaching liquor made in a still (see 3); still-man, a workman employed to attend to a still; still-pot, a small still; still-spirit (see quot.); still-tub, the condensing vessel of a still. Also still-burnt, still-head, still-house, still-room, still-worm.
| 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Wine, The *still-bottoms have many uses. The distillers scald and recover their musty casks with them, and [etc.]. |
| 1841 S. C. Hall Ireland I. 117 The light curl of smoke issuing from the roof of some illicit *still-cabin. |
| 1652 in W. M. Williams Ann. Founders' Co. (1867) 110 They found..at Evan Evens's other great *still Cockes filled with Lead and so basely wrought, that [etc.]. |
| 1725 G. Smith Distilling 68 You must have for your *Still-fire a large Poker, Fire-shovel, [etc.]. |
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Still-hanger, an engineer or worker, who fixes the stills for making rum in the West Indies. |
| 1821 Scott Let. in Lockhart (1839) VI. 313 Pray write soon, and give me the history of your *still-huntings. 1844 G. R. Gleig Light Dragoon ii. (1855) 17 There is not one [duty] on which I now look back with more unmixed abhorrence than the operation of still-hunting. |
| 1869 Abridgm. Specif. Patents, Acids etc. 997 *Still liquor or chloride of manganese obtained in any other way..is treated [etc.]. |
| a 1864 Gesner Coal, Petrol. etc. (1865) 167 One superintendent, two engineers, four *still men, and four helpers. |
| 1725 G. Smith Distilling 71 The worm end, in which your *Still nose is luted. |
| a 1824 in Maidment. N.C. Garland 54 A *stell-pat they gat, and they brew'd Highland whisky. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 624 This apparatus consists of only two still-pots of cast iron. |
| 1832 Trans. Prov. Med. & Surg. Assoc. VI. ii. 202 These [cider dregs] were formerly collected and distilled, thus yielding a coarse ardent spirit, vulgarly called ‘*still-spirits.’ |
| 1826 Henry Elem. Chem. II. 600 This test is so delicate, that water condensed by the leaden worm of a *still-tub, is sensibly affected by it. |
▪ II. still, a. and n.2
(stɪl)
Forms: 1 stille, stylle, 3–6 stille, stylle, 3–7 stil, 4 stell, style, 4–6 styl, 5–6 styll, 3– still.
[Com. WGer.: OE. stille = OFris. stille, OS. stilli (MLG. stille, whence prob. Sw. stilla, still, Norw. still, Da. stille), MDu. stille (mod.Du. stil), OHG. stilli (MHG. stille, mod.G. still):—OTeut. type *stilljo-, *stelljo-, f. *stel- to be fixed, stand: see steal n.2]
A. adj.
1. Motionless; not moving from one place, stationary; also, remaining in the same position or attitude, quiescent. a. as predicate or complement.
In stand, sit, lie still the word may be taken either as adj. or adv. In OE., however, there is evidence that in these collocations it was sometimes adv., and no evidence that it was ever adj., the constant form being stille (which always admits of being regarded as adv.), never stillu, which would be the proper form of the adj. when the subj. is fem. sing. or neut. pl. Further, in OS. and OHG. the adv. stillo, not the adj., is used with the verb ‘to stand’. These phrases are therefore treated under still adv. 1.
| Beowulf 2830 Se widfloᵹa wundum stille hreas on hrusan. c 888 ælfred Boeth. xxxix. viii, He astereð þone rodor & þa tunglu, & þa eorðan gedeð stille. c 1205 Lay. 4516 Stille he wes iswoȝen on his kine-stole. c 1374 Chaucer Anel. & Arc. 54 Mars..ne rested neuer stille But throng now here now þere. a 1400–50 Wars Alex. 263 Quen he þire sawis had sayd he in his sege lened, In stody still as a stane & starid in hire face. 1604 Shakes. Oth. v. ii. 94 Hah, no more moouing? Still as the Graue. 1732 in A. Clarke Mem. Wesley Family (1823) 264 They were as soon taught to be still at family prayers. 1816 J. Wilson City of Plague i. i. 79 There it hangs Still as a rainbow in the pathless sky. 1859 Reeve Brittany 51 One or two women..remained still long enough to be more defined in outline. 1889 Baden-Powell Pigsticking 170 It is easy enough for a man to keep still, but the difficulty is to make the horse do so. 1897 Hall Caine Christian x, The dance is over, but she can't keep her feet still. |
† b. Abstaining from action. Const. of (in OE., genitive). Phrase, to hold oneself still. Obs.
| c 1000 Laws of Wihtræd §6 Sio he stille his þeᵹnungæ oþ biscopes dom. a 1300 Cursor M. 408 Þe seuend o werk he hild him still. Ibid. 10323 Þof godd vmquil be funden still, Al mai he wirk þou quat he will. c 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1725) 47 Edmunde & the erle Uctred þat tyme held þam stille. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 3449 When þou..wille noght help bot haldes þe stylle. 138. Wyclif De Eccl. Sel. Wks. III. 346 A stiward..þat whanne many servauntis done amys, holdiþ stille, and bryngiþ in newe þat done werse. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. iii. ii. 69 Hold you still: Ile fetch my sister to get her good will. |
c. in attributive use. (In quot. a 1586: † Averse from moving about, sedentary.) Somewhat rare.
| a 1586 Sidney Arcadia iii. iv. (1912) 374 Therfore would he not employ the stil man to a shifting practise, nor the liberall man to be a dispenser of his victuals. 1798 Coleridge Anc. Mar. iv. xi, The charmed water burnt alway A still and awful red. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam ii. xii. 8 Even as a storm let loose beneath the ray Of the still moon. 1853 C. Brontë Villette iii, In his absence she was a still personage, but with him the most officious, fidgetty little body possible. 1875 Huxley & Martin Elem. Biol. 12 The still condition of Protococcus, just described, is not the only state in which it exists. Under certain circumstances, a Protococcus becomes actively locomotive. 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 129/2 (Bowls), Still bowl, a bowl at rest. |
d. Of wine or a soft drink: Not sparkling or effervescing.
Chiefly used to designate a variety of one of those wines which have also a ‘sparkling’ variety, as champagne, hock, moselle. Used also of soft drinks, to distinguish them from the carbonated variety.
| 1777 P. Thicknesse Year's Journey I. v. 31 The difference between still Champaigne, and that which is mousser, is owing to..the time of year in which it is bottled. 1833 Redding Mod. Wines v. 71 Champagne wines are divided into sparkling.., demi sparkling.., and still wines (non mousseux). 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Jrnls. (1871) II. 254 Wine..somewhat resembling still champagne, but finer. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXVII. 724/1 The white growths of the Loire..up to 1834 were used only as still wines. 1949 Acct. Soft Drinks Industry in Brit. 1942–48 iii. 37 A number of beverages essential for some purpose, such as health..were excluded from the general restrictions... The list of these drinks included..sugar-free drinks for diabetics..and still spa waters. 1981 Soft Drinks Rep. i. 2 Mineral and Bottled Water. This includes natural spring water products which are either still or naturally or artificially sparkling. Ibid. ii. 9, 2·5 billion litres of diluted still drink was consumed in 1980. |
2. Silent. † a. Predicatively of a person. to be (hold oneself) still: to hold one's peace, refrain from speaking (of something). Also, † still of noise. Obs.
| a 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxii. 34 Þæt he het þa saduceiscan stylle beon [Vulg. quod silentium imposuisset Sadducæis]. a 1200 Moral Ode 112 Þe ðe lest wat biseið ofte mest; þe hit al wat is stille. c 1200 Vices & Virtues 11 Ðus ðu dedest, and ic was stille. a 1225 Ancr. R. 116 Ich am stille of þe more [i.e. I do not speak of the greater (offence)]. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 373 Stille beo þu þenne & stew swuche wordes. c 1275 Passion our Lord 253 in O.E. Misc., Ihesuc hym wes stille, nolde heo nowyht speke. a 1300 Cursor M. 19994 Fra nu forward i will O þe apostels hald me still. c 1305 St. Christopher 165 in E.E.P. (1862) 64 Þu miȝt, quaþ þis oþer: as wel beo stille. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 1388 Ne sileas [etc.]..Þat es to say, be noght swa stille, Þat [etc.]. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xl. (Ninian) 665 Þai held þame stil, þo þai wa ware, nedly for þai mycht nomare. 1382 Wyclif Matt. xx. 31 Forsothe the cumpanye blamyde hem, for to be stille [Vulg. ut tacerent]. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1677 (Hengwrt MS.) And whan he say the peple of noyse al stille Thus shewed he the myghty dukes wille. 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love i. viii. (Skeat) l. 67 Lo eke an olde proverbe amonges many other: He that is stille semeth as he graunted. c 1400 Rule St. Benet i. 4 Better es to be stille þan for to speke of þair lif. a 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 6 Ȝif þou had bene stille thou had bene holden a philosophre. a 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xli. 15 Be nocht of langage quhair ȝe suld be still. 1518 H. Watson Hist. Oliver of Castile (Roxb.) K 1 b, Wherfore she helde her styll and sayd nothynge. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lxviii. 236 Better it is to shew the trouthe then to be styll. 1535 Coverdale Zech. ii. 13 Let all flesh be still before the Lorde, for he is rysen out of his holy place. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 794 All were still and muete, and not one worde aunswered to. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. iii. ii. 69 Oh soft sir, hold you still. 1604 ― Oth. v. ii. 46 Peace, and be still. |
b. Habitually silent, taciturn. Phrase, to keep a still tongue in one's head.
| 1729 G. Adams tr. Sophocles, Antig. iv. i. II. 61 Lead me home, that he may..know how to keep a stiller Tongue, and ever be of a better Mind than now he is. 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho! xv, He was a very still man, much as a mass⁓priest might be. 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede xxiii, I'll tell you what I know, because I believe you can keep a still tongue in your head if you like. 1859 Tennyson Grandmother 13 Strong on his hands, and strong on his legs, but still of his tongue! 1869 Hazlitt Eng. Prov. 35 A still tongue makes a wise head. 1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. I. 112 I'm a strange still chap mysen. 1890 W. A. Wallace Only a Sister 328 He was a rare man John, a rare still 'un. |
† c. Prov. (Very common in 16–17th c.) Obs.
| c 1200 Prov. in MS. Rawlinson C. 641 lf. 13 b/1 Sistille suᵹe fret þere grunninde mete. 1546 J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 22 The still sowe eats vp all the draffe Ales. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iv. ii. 109 'Tis old, but true, Still Swine eats all the draugh. 1611 Florio, Acqua queta,..a close, slie, lurking knaue, a stil sow as we say. |
3. a. Of a voice, sounds, utterances: Subdued, soft, not loud. Now arch. (Chiefly after 1 Kings xix. 12.)
| c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 410 Ðine æhta mid stylre stemne wyllað þe wreᵹan to ð inum Drihtne. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 2005 Heo..cleopede toward heouene,..wið stille steuene [etc.]. a 1300 Floriz & Bl. (Camb. MS.) 37 To hire louerd heo sede wiþ stille dreme, ‘Sire,’ [etc.]. 13.. K. Alis. 7458 (Laud MS.), Alisaunder makeþ a stille cry. 13.. Coer de L. 177 She answeryd with wordys stylle, ‘Sere, I am at my faderys wylle.’ 1502 W. Atkynson tr. De Imitatione iii. i. 195 The eris that here the styll spekynge or rownynge of almyghty god. a 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xlii. 47 Sayand till hir with wirdis still [etc.]. 1531 Tindale Exp. 1 John (1537) 87 The preste prayeth in latyne and sayeth euermore a styll Masse, as we saye. 1535 Coverdale 1 Kings xix. 12 After the fyre came there a styll softe hyssinge [1611 a still small voice]. 1585 Higins Junius' Nomencl. 358/1 Susurrus,..a soft or still noise, as of waters, falling with a gentle streame, or of leaues from trees. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 138 The louder and shriller voice of a Dogge, is called barking, the lower and stiller is called whining, or fawning. 1675 J. Smith Chr. Relig. Appeal 100 To tune the still voice of the Gospel to the shrill tones of the Law. c 1750 Gray Elegy Omitted Stanza (Mason MS.), In still small Accents whisp'ring from the Ground A grateful Earnest of eternal Peace. 1769 ― Ode for Music 6 Sweeter yet The still small voice of Gratitude. a 1777 Transl. & Paraphr. xxiii. iii, Gentle and still shall be his voice. 1788 Gibbon Decl. & F. lxix. III. 524 The still voice of law and reason was seldom heard or obeyed. 1811 Shelley St. Irvyne iii. ix. 5 And, from the black hill, Went a voice cold and still. 1847 C. Brontë J. Eyre II. iv. 101 Strong wind, earthquake, shock, and fire may pass by: I shall follow the guiding..of that still small voice which interprets the dictates of conscience. 1874 J. G. Whittier Poet. Wks. 458/1 Speak through the earthquake, wind and fire, O still, small voice of calm! 1918 L. Strachey Eminent Victorians 64 In such a situation the voice of self-abnegation must needs grow still and small indeed. 1953 P. C. Berg Dict. New Words in English 14 The still small voice of Professor Bryant..has a few good words to say in favour of these ‘abominations’. 1983 Daily Tel. 25 Mar. 20/5 If it is not too late, may a still small voice be allowed to publicise a fact not yet revealed by either the protagonists or critics of the Budget? |
† b. esp. of music; hence of instruments, performers, etc. Obs.
| 1541 in Vicary's Anat. (1888) App. xii. 242 To the stille minstrelles, in rewarde iiij li. 1575 Gascoigne Jocasta v. Order of last Dumb Shewe, First the Stillpipes sounded a very mournful melody. 1595 T. Edwards Narcissus (Roxb.) 40 Some with Still musicke, some with pleasing songes Some with coye smiles, [etc.]. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. v. iv. 113 stage-dir., Enter Hymen, Rosalind and Celia. Still Music. 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. iv. iii. stage-dir., ¶The still flutes sound softly. a 1639 T. Carew A Rapture Poems (1651) 66 The gentle blasts of Western winds shall..breath Still Musick. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iv. xv. 318 Yet spake she very little to any, sighing out more then she said, and making still musick to God in her heart. a 1645 Milton Passion 28 Me softer airs befit, and softer strings Of Lute, or Viol still. 1658 Rowland tr. Moufet's Theat. Ins. 931 As still musick is sweeter then the loud. 1738 Wesley Hymns ‘Hark, dull Soul, how every Thing’ iv, All the Flowers that paint the Spring Hither their still Musick bring. 1816 Shelley Hymn Intell. Beauty 34 Music by the night-wind sent Through strings of some still instrument. |
† c. Secret. Obs.
| c 1205 Lay. 4496 Stille boc runen heo senden him to ræden. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 5958 Ȝyf þou boghtest of any seriaunt pryuyly, yn stylle cunnaunt, Þyng þat þou wystyst wel was stole. a 1450 Le Morte Arthur 3860 The bysshope..shrove hym..Off All hys synnes loude and stylle. 1647 H. More Song of Soul, Notes Psychozoia 349 It is inconceivable that the least motions of the mind, or stillest thought should escape her. |
4. Free from commotion. a. Of water: Having an unruffled surface, without waves or violent current; motionless or flowing imperceptibly.
| a 1000 Riddles iii. 14 Þonne streamas eft stille weorþað. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 102 A stille water for the nones Rennende upon the smale stones. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 699 Wherf..becometh more still, and so gently intermingleth his water with Ouse. 1735 Somerville Chase iv. 381 Where ancient Alders shade The deep still Pool. 1784 Cowper Task vi. 929 Stillest streams Oft water fairest meadows. 1803 Wordsw. Yarrow unvisited 43 Let..The swan on still St. Mary's Lake Float double, swan and shadow. 1834 M. Somerville Connex. Phys. Sci. xiii. (1849) 110 A stone plunged into a pool of still water. 1847 H. Miller Test. Rocks viii. (1857) 337 While other fresh water fishes, such as the tench and carp, are reared most successfully in still reedy ponds. |
| Prov. 1791 Scott Let. in Lockhart (1837) I. vi. 183 Though he makes no noise about feelings, yet still streams always run deepest. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xxvii, ‘{oqq}Still waters run deepest,{cqq} they used to tell me,’ said Miss Ophelia oracularly. 1895 ‘G. Paston’ Study in Prejudices xiii, Hers was a case of ‘Still waters run deep’. |
b. Of the air, weather: Free from commotion, quiet. Of rain: Unattended by wind, gentle.
| 1390 Gower Conf. I. 371 For the weder stille Men preise, and blame the tempestes. c 1500 Melusine xx. 107 Wel fole is he that fighteth ayenst the wynd, wenyng to make hym be styll. 1632 Milton Penseroso 127 Or usher'd with a shower still, When the gust hath blown his fill. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. i. x. 24 But our widows sorrow is no storm but a still rain. 1795–6 Wordsw. Borderers ii. 25 The moon shone clear, the air was still, so still The trees were silent as the graves beneath them. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian xii, As it came upon the still air and descended towards the cloudless heavens. 1829 Chapters Phys. Sci. 296 When he has been walking in still weather on the brink of a lake. 1859 Tennyson Merlin & V. 1 A storm was coming, but the winds were still. 1908 [Miss E. Fowler] Betw. Trent & Ancholme 313 The air is strangely still. |
† c. Quiet, gentle in disposition; meek. still and bold (absol.), men of whatever temper. Obs.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter lxxv. 10 Alle stille eorðan [Vulg. omnes quietos terræ]. c 1000 in Sax. Leechd. III. 430 Heo wæs..on eallum þingum eaðmod & stille. c 1200 Ormin 1177 Forr shep iss all unnskaþefull & stille der & liþe. c 1300 Havelok 955 Him loueden alle, stille and bolde. c 1300 Leg. Gregory (Schulz) 173 Þo sche held hir stille and milde, Hir sorwe was strong and sterne. c 1460 Sir R. Ros La Belle Dame 656 For þai be not rebell, bot still as stone. |
d. Settled, unperturbed in mind. † Also, in mystical language, said of one that has attained to freedom from passion.
| 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 940 Stoute is he, stedefast & stille of his herte. a 1400 Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. xxiii. 651 Heil, whos deore sone stod In þe Synagoge of goddes And iuged þer wiþ stille mood Princis. 1741 Wesley Jrnl. 12 Feb., Others..who had constantly affirmed ‘That Mr. Charles Wesley was still already, and would come to London no more.’ 1858 G. Macdonald Phantastes xv. 196 My soul was not still enough for songs. |
5. a. In mixed sense of 2 and 4. Of places, times, conditions: Characterized by absence of noise and movement; silent, quiet, calm.
| c 1205 Lay. 25481 Ah al hit wes stille in hirede and in halle. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1203 Þay stel out on a stylle nyȝt er any steuen rysed. 1525 tr. Brunswyke's Handywork Surg. lix. N iv, Then shall the pacyent be layde in a styl place where he may haue rest. 1585 Higins Junius' Nomencl. 375/1 The dead or stil time of the night. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iv. iv. 28 That Herne the Hunter..Doth..at still midnight Walke round about an Oake. 1611 ― Cymb. v. iv. 69 For this, from stiller Seats we came. 1632 Milton Penseroso 78 Som still removed place will fit. 1667 ― P.L. iv. 598 Now came still Eevning on. a 1722 Lisle Husb. (1757) 29 It must be spread the first still day. 1770 G. White Selborne, Let. to Barrington 8 Oct., Swallows and house-martins abound yet, induced to prolong their stay by this soft, still, dry season. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xv, And oft at midnight's stillest hour, When summer seas the vessel lave. 1816 Shelley Mont Blanc 44 In the still cave of the witch Poesy. 1816 Byron Ch. Har. iii. lxxxix, All heaven and earth are still—though not in sleep. 1849 Froude Nemesis of Faith 194 The room was deathly still; no sound but the heavy breathing of the child, [etc.]. 1855 Tennyson Maud ii. v. 70 She comes from another stiller world of the dead. 1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 34 You've seen the Loch, on some still evening, Mirror each stone. |
† b. Of a mode of life: Quiet, uneventful, dull.
| 1706 Addison Epil. to Ld. Lansdowne's Brit. Enchanters 14 Scenes of still Life, and Points for ever fix'd, A tedious Pleasure to the Mind bestow. 1710 Felton Diss. Classics (1718) 223 The stiller Scenes of Life. 1748 Richardson Clarissa VII. 327 What a cursed still-life this! 1781 Cowper Retirem. 746 Yet neither these delights, nor aught beside..Can save us always from a tedious day, Or shine the dulness of still life away. |
c. contextually (poet.) = That has become still; no longer active or audible.
| c 1485 E.E. Misc. (Warton Club) 1 The byrd was go; my joy was stylle, For woo, alasse! myselffe I spylle. 1742 Gray Spring 21 Still is the toiling hand of Care. 1822 Shelley tr. Calderon's Mag. Prodig. ii. 95 Since the fury Of this earthquaking hurricane is still. 1842 Tennyson Break, Break 12 O for the touch of a vanish'd hand, And the sound of a voice that is still! |
† 6. Of a child: Dead before birth. Cf. stillborn. Obs. rare—1.
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 433 The milk of a Mare being drunk..doth cause a still childe to bee cast forth. |
† 7. Constant, continual; continued until now.
| 1570 Levins Manip. 124/4 Stil, iugis, continuus. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. iii. ii. 45 But I (of these) will wrest an Alphabet, And by still practice, learne to know thy meaning. 1594 ― Rich. III, iv. iv. 229 But that still vse of greefe makes wilde greefe tame. 1615 Chapman Odyss. xvii. 711 Of Vlysses (where the Thesprots dwell,..) Fame, he sayes, did tell The still suruiuall. |
8. Comb. still-air a., (a) Aeronaut., applicable or calculated for a state of no wind; (b) not employing forced draught; still-bait U.S., bait for still-baiting; still-baiting U.S. (see quot. 1859); still-fishing = still-baiting; still-footed a., with silent tread; still-vaulting, vaulting without a run.
| 1913 Captain Sept. 1072/2 A machine with *still-air speed of 57 miles per hour was sent up to fight a gale for 400 yds. 1948 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. LII. 600/2 We often read..of two aircraft of widely varying characteristics being compared over similar still-air ranges. 1951 ‘N. Shute’ Round Bend vi. 177 She had tankage for twelve hundred gallons, giving her a still-air range of about two thousand miles. 1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 19 Jan. 108/1 Game birds are not..easy to hatch..in the big cabinet..machines... Reasonably good results, on a small scale,..can be got from the more old-fashioned still-air machines. 1961 P. W. Brooks Mod. Airliner iv. 100 A payload of 6,000 lb. was required for a still-air range of 3,500 miles. 1977 Shooting Times & Country Mag. 13–19 Jan. 26/2 Small incubators—those that take 100–200 pheasant eggs—are nearly always the ‘still air’ type and depend on convection currents for ensuring air movement. |
| 1888 Goode Amer. Fishes 58 The angler finds them at the proper seasons equally eager for fly-hook, trolling-spoon, or *still-bait. |
| 1859 Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 2) 451 *Still-baiting, fishing with a deep line in one spot, as distinguished from trolling. |
| 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 82/2 (Bass) *Still-fishing. |
| 1894 Outing XXIII. 395/1 The fox comes trotting, *still-footed, along this avenue. |
| 1854 G. Roland Gymnastics 28 Every young person who has seen what is called ‘*still-vaulting’ at Ducrow's. |
B. n.2
† 1. A calm, lit. and fig. Obs.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 376 Quia post tempestatem tranquillum facit..þat is, iblesced beo þu, Louerd, þet makest stille efter storme. 1615 Bacon Charge agst. O. St. John Wks. 1778 II. 588 There is no better sign of omnia bene, than when the court is in a still. a 1626 ― Hen. VIII in Consid. War Spain (1629) 164 He had neuer any the least..Difference..with the King his Father, which might giue any occasion of altering Court or Counsell vpon the change; but all things passed in a Still. 1626 ― Sylva §193 The Vnequall Agitation of the Winds, and the like,..make them to be heard lesse Way, than in a Still. |
2. Stillness, quiet. Now only poet. or rhetorical.
| 1608 Topsell Serpents 99 In the still of the night, when euery one besides were at rest. 1810 Scott Lady of L. iii. xxvi, No murmur waked the solemn still, Save tinkling of a fountain rill. 1830 W. Phillips Mt. Sinai i. 512 A still of limb and lip Hush'd all his brethren. 1900 N. Munro in Blackw. Mag. Oct. 449/2 His ear had not grown accustomed to the still of the valleys. |
† 3. A still pool. Obs.
| 1681 J. Chetham Angler's Vade-m. xxxiii. (1689) 179 You may Dib with the Green-drake both in Streams, and Stills. |
4. Shetland. (See quot.) [Perh. f. still v.]
| 1844 W. H. Maxwell Scotland xiii. (1855) 118 A brief lull occurs at high water, and is termed by Shetlanders ‘the still.’ |
† 5. slang. A still-born child; a still-birth. Obs.
| 1864 Hotten Slang Dict. 247 Stills, the undertaker's Slang term for still-born children. 1897 [see miss n.4]. |
6. a. An ordinary photograph, as distinguished from a motion picture; spec. a single shot from a film (or a specially posed photograph of a scene from it) for use in advertising. Freq. with defining word, as cinema still, film still, etc.
| 1916 Independent 5 June 86 (caption) A striking ‘still’ from the film ‘The Fall of a Nation’. 1922 Glasgow Herald 12 Oct. 6 Mr Johnson succeeded in exposing 25,000 feet of film and in taking some 1000 ‘stills’. 1938 Archit. Rev. LXXXIII. caption facing p. 72 Two aspects of a turbulent age are seen in ‘The Temple of Janus’,..wherein the figures of the Furies are attested as in a cinema ‘still’. 1945 H. Read Coat of Many Colours xxix. 142 We may select ‘stills’ for their closed form—for their pictorial composition—but the film itself is essentially open form. 1957 Times 25 Nov. 11/3 The story of that enchanting film The Red Balloon illustrated with film stills and with a photographic cover in colour. 1962 E. Snow Red China Today (1963) xv. 109 McDermott and I used our Canons taking stills. 1972 C. Weston Poor, Poor Ophelia (1973) xxvi. 164 The photo was a standard publicity still. 1976 Oxf. Compan. Film 66/1 Frame stills are reproductions of single frames from the film itself... They convey the true feeling of a film more exactly than can a posed production still. 1978 ‘A. Garve’ Counterstroke i. 88 George had brought along a full-face ‘still’ of Lacy. |
b. attrib. (as sing. or pl.).
| 1922 Opportunities in Motion Picture Industry (Photoplay Research Society) 47 Ask the first director you meet where you can find the still man. Ibid. 48 Still pictures are made for the publicity department. Ibid. 50 Seldom are the many lights placed for the movie camera exactly suited to the still camera. Ibid., The still cameraman is of necessity a versatile flea. 1925 R. Beetham in E. F. Norton Fight for Everest 1924 324 His time was so fully taken up with cinema work that most of the still photography had to be done by other members of the party. 1928 [see news-reel s.v. news n. (pl.) 6 c]. 1963 Movie July/Aug. 27/4 The still pictures have greater effect than the newsreel shots. 1964 C. Willock Enormous Zoo ix. 165 Roger spent one whole afternoon trying to get the moment of entry and exit from the sandstone burrow with a stills camera. 1964 M. McLuhan Understanding Media ii. xx. 193 The physical and psychic gestalts, or ‘still’ shots, with which they [sc. Freud and Jung] worked were much owing to the posture world revealed by the photograph. 1974 Times 16 Nov. 10/6 It was through stills photographs that the public were first introduced..to the stars. Ibid. 10/7 The stills men would retouch the negative. 1974 M. Taylor tr. Metz's Film Lang. i. 12 Rudolf Arnheim recognises that..still photography produces an impression of reality much weaker than that of the cinema. 1981 Gossip (Holiday Special) 54/3, I met her on a film I did a while back. She was the still photographer. |
7. Naut. An instruction to cease work and stand to attention conveyed to a ship's crew by the boatswain's pipe.
| 1933 ‘L. Luard’ All Hands 140 Pipe the still, Cox'un. 1963 [see pipe-down]. |
▪ III. still, v.1
(stɪl)
pa. tense and pa. pple. stilled (stɪld). Forms: 1 stillan, styllan, 3–5 stille, 5–6 stylle, 5–7 stil, 6 styll, 4– still.
[OE. stillan, cogn. w. OS. (gi)stillian trans., stillon intr. (LG., Du. stillen), OHG. stillen trans., stillên intr. (MHG., mod.G. stillen trans. and intr.), to make or become still, ON. stilla to soothe, calm, to temper, moderate, tune, intr. to walk with measured noiseless steps (Sw. stilla, Da. stille) related to WGer. *stilljo- still a.]
To make or become still. (Very common in 16–17th c.; now chiefly poet. and rhetorical.)
I. trans. (In OE. sometimes with dative.)
1. To quiet, calm (waves, winds, etc.).
| a 1000 Andreas 451 Engla eadᵹifa yðum stilde. a 1175 Cott. Hom. 229 He ȝestilde windes mid his hesne. c 1425 Eng. Conq. Ireland xlix. 126 & so the grete tempeste of that weddyr hape yn lytel whyle was I-queynt & I-stylled. 1535 Coverdale Ps. lxxxix. 9 Thou rulest the pryde of the see, thou stillest the wawes therof, when they arise. 1634 Milton Comus 87 A Swaine..Who with his soft Pipe..Well knows to still the wilde winds when they roar. c 1639 Sir W. Mure Ps. cvii. 30 He..brings them glade, (the tempest stild,) To their desyred heawen. 1720 Pope Iliad xviii. 481 Wide with distorted Legs, oblique he goes, And stills the Bellows. 1782 Priestley Corrupt. Chr. I. iv. 398 Power..to still winds and tempests. 1839 Longfellow Wreck Hesperus 55 And she thought of Christ, who stilled the wave On the Lake of Galilee. 1856 Rossetti Blessed Damozel 4 Her eyes knew more of rest and shade Than waters still'd at even. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus xlvi. 3 Now doth Zephyrus..Still the boisterous equinoctial heaven. 1881 W. Black Beautiful Wretch I. 166 The hot sun had stilled the water. |
b. In fig. context.
| 1786 F. Burney Diary 10 Aug., This undid all again, though my explanation had just stilled the hurricane. 1810 Shelley Marg. Nicholson, Despair 14 Awhile it stills the tide of agony. 1840 A. Carson Hist. Providence 388 He suffers the fury of the enemy to swell against his cause, but he stills it at his pleasure. 1868 Helps Realmah vi. (1876) 118 Whom they stood aloof from only to break and still the opposing waves of popular opinion. 1903 Morley Gladstone ix. i. III. 220 The surface was thus stilled for the moment, yet the waters ran very deep. |
c. To subdue, allay (sedition, tumult).
| 1570 Levins Manip. 123/37 To stil a trouble, quietare, sedare. 1770 Langhorne Plutarch II. 253 But Timoleon stilled the tumult, by representing, That [etc.]. 1868 Nettleship Ess. Browning vi. 196 Who like Saturn stilled the tumult and took throne supreme. |
2. To relieve (pain); to assuage, allay (an appetite, desire).
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 59 Þæt stilð þam sare. 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love iii. vii. (Skeat) l. 36 Thus have I stilled my disese; thus have I covered my care. 1657 Trapp Comm., Esther iii. 1 Honour is but..a glorious fancie, a rattle to still mens ambition. 1856 Trench Serm. Camb. ii. (1857) 43 He tries..to still, or at least to deaden, the undying pain of his spirit. 1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. liv, But what can still that hunger of the heart which sickens the eye for beauty..? 1882 Rep. Prec. Metals U.S. 539 This thirst for land being stilled, we may count upon a greater stability in the number of miners. |
† 3. To keep back, repress, desist or refrain from (words, tears); to keep (one's tongue) still. Obs.
| a 1225 Leg. Kath. 1530 Stute nu þenne, & stew þe, & stille þine wordes. a 1225 Ancr. R. 186 Þet child is well ipaied..& stilleð his teares. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus ii. 230 Yet were it bet my tonge for to stille Than sey a soth þat were a-yens youre wylle. c 1400 Rule St. Benet (1902) 51 Proibe linguam tuam a malo—In þe begining, still þi tung, And spek no uyl of ald na ȝong. c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 307 Sore weping he coud nat stil. |
4. To quiet, calm (a person's mind); to subdue (agitation, emotion); † refl. to compose oneself.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3924 And sente after balaam ðe prest, Wið riche men and giftes oc, for to stillen hise [vn-]eðe mod. 1382 Wyclif Gen. xliii. 31 He..stillide hym self [Vulg. continuit se]. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 363 Sche wolde noght hirselven stille, Bot deide only for drede of schame. c 1400 Beryn 2565 Stillith ȝewe, quod Geffrey. c 1475 Partenay 2969 Geffray thaim said, ‘stil you, noght dismay’. 1610 Shakes. Temp. iv. 163 A turne or two, Ile walke To still my beating minde. 1818 Shelley Rosal. & Helen 874, I stilled the tingling of my blood. 1828 Lytton Pelham lxx, With this reflection, I stilled the beating of my heart. |
b. To appease (anger).
| c 1290 Beket 511 in S. Eng. Leg. 121 Þo..radden him wende to þe kinge is wrathþe for-to stille. 1535 Coverdale Esther vii. 10 Then was the kynges wrath stylled. 1891 Farrar Darkn. & Dawn lxiv, Nero stood amazed—his wrath stilled before so majestic an indifference. |
† 5. To pacify, induce to desist from complaint or opposition. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 13075 To sla him was he noght in will, Bot for þat wicked wijf to still. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xix. 408 Reynawde was wyse and well taughte for to stylle thus hys bretherne, to whome he sayd, [etc.]. 1534 Tindale Rom. Prol. 190 This fredome..ministreth that which the lawe requyreth, and where with the lawe is fulfilled, that is to vnderstond, luste and loue, where with the lawe is stylled and accuseth vs no moare. 1647 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. xlvii. 130 It was but a noise to still the Clergy. |
† 6. To lull, soothe (a child); to induce (a person) to cease from weeping. Obs.
| c 1315 Shoreham Poems vi. 65 Ine þe hys god by-come a chyld;..þou hast y-tamed [hyt], and i-styld Wyþ melke of þy breste. a 1400 Isumbras 199 Nowther of tham myghte other stille, Thaire sorowe it was fulle ranke! c 1400 Pilgr. Sowle iv. i. (1483) 58 He wald styllen the child with some maner of comfortable myrthe of recreacion. c 1440 Bone Flor. 831 Allas, sche seyde, that y was borne!.. Ther myght no man hur stylle. 1530 Palsgr. 736/1 Go styll the chylde, nourice, you wyll be shente els. 1545 R. Ascham Toxoph. (Arb.) 42 Euen the little babes..are scarce so well stilled in suckyng theyr mothers pap, as in hearynge theyr mother syng. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado iii. iii. 70. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 263 He..would still his Nephews when they cryed with plums. |
7. To silence, cause (a sound) to cease. Also fig. to cause the cessation of (murmurs, complaints, etc.).
| 1390 Gower Conf. III. 138 The softe word the loude stilleth. c 1430 How Gd. Wife taught Dau. 37 in Babees Bk., A sclaundre reisid ille Is yuel for to stille. 1623 J. Taylor (Water P.) Honour Conceal'd Wks. (1630) iii. 124/2 And therefore 'twas ordain'd that thou shouldst come To hang the Colours vp, and still the Drum. 1631 R. Bolton Comf. Affl. Consc. xvi. (1635) 314 Earthly pleasures may for the present still the noyse of an accusing conscience. 1663 Patrick Parab. Pilgrim (1687) 365 In this manner he quieted and still'd all its grumblings. 1671 Milton P.R. iv. 428 Morning..Who with her radiant finger still'd the roar Of thunder, chas'd the clouds, and laid the winds. 1690 W. Walker Idiomat. Anglo-Lat. 143, I'll still your din, i.e. make you hold your tongue. 1738 Wesley Psalms xciii. iii, The Floods, O Lord, lift up their Voice,..But God above can still their Noise. 1820 Scott Monast. xxxvii, There was a deep and solemn pause. The monks stilled their chant. 1820 Keats Isabella xlvii, Those dainties made to still an infant's cries. 1821–30 Ld. Cockburn Mem. iv. (1874) 213 The murmur..used to be stilled when this image stuck its awful head through the lofty orifice. 1835 Lytton Rienzi ii. iii, The murmurs of the people were stilled. 1887 J. Payn Holiday Tasks 206 We stilled our scruples by reflecting that it was very mean of the victim [etc.]. |
† b. To cause (a person) to be silent; to impose silence on (an assembly); to put to silence (an objector). Obs.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 3519 The kyng þen comaund to..fetur hir fast in a fre prisoune,..to still hir of noise. 1608 Willet Hexapla. Exod. 753 Aaron sinned..in not staying the people and stilling them. 1611 Bible Num. xiii. 30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses. 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 211 But it may be, according to my Assertion, his Name will sooner still opposers than his Reasons. 1665 R. Brathwait Comm. Two Tales 199 Which Answer still'd this Censor, and justified the Author. |
† 8. To check the turbulence of (a person); to compel to cease. Obs.
| 1300–1400 R. Glouc. (Rolls) App. xx. 507 He gan to stryue To ȝenst his owene fadere, god stilde him in þis So þat raþer þane he ded he was ywis. c 1450 Lovelich Grail xlii. 345 Eche Oþer wold han slayn In that plas ȝif they ne hadde I-stilled be. 1602 tr. Guarini's Pastor Fido iv. vi. M 1 b, O glorious child of great Alcides race, That monsters stilst, and wild Beastes doth deface. |
† b. To ‘quiet’ by killing or stunning. ? slang.
| 1778 T. Anburey Trav. (1789) II. 167 We will suppose, he only orders them to knock a man down, or to prick him, or still him. |
9. In occasional uses: To stop the movement or activity of.
| 1850 Tennyson In Mem. vi. iii, O father,..Who pledgest now thy gallant son; A shot, ere half thy draught be done, Hath still'd the life that beat from thee. 1861 Temple Bar III. 433 To disuse cotton wholly, to still the British cotton-factories. 1866 Mrs. H. Wood St. Martin's Eve i, She stilled her feet and stared at the speaker. 1867 A. J. Wilson Vashti xiv, [She] struggled to steady her voice and still the twitching tell-tale muscles about her mouth. |
II. 10. intr. To become still or calm.
| a 900 Martyrol. 11 Nov., Ða stylde se storm sona, and seo sæ wearð eft smylte. 1695 Sibbald Autobiog. (1834) 128 When I cryed and weept upon any occasion I stilled upon the giving me the Psalms of Buchanan. 1798 W. Taylor in Monthly Mag. VI. 366 Slow beams the blooming dawn as stills the strife. Hence, down the winding stairs. a 1851 Moir Ruined Nunnery ii, At length the winds began to still. a 1853 Robertson Lect. ii. (1858) 67 The surges stilled below him, and the last cloud drifted from the sky above. 1888 Harper's Mag. Apr. 737 The sea only swayed a little, and stilled again. 1898 H. Calderwood Hume viii. 153 The worst storm stills at length. |
† b. To remain still or quiet; to keep silence.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 11749 When þei were stilled a party, ffirst spak sire Ohel. a 1340 Hampole Psalter xxvii. 1 Deus meus, ne sileas a me..my god still not fra me. Ibid. xxxi. 3 For i stilled eldid my banes. 1450 Paston Lett. I. 180 Heruppon the people peacyd, and stilled unto the tyme the shire was doone. 1483 Cath. Angl. 364/1 To Stil[l]e, tacere. |
c. To sound softly.
| 1900 N. Munro Doom Castle x, A bagpipe stilled in the hall, a lute breathed a melody from a neighbouring room. |
▪ IV. still, v.2
(stɪl)
Forms: 5–6 stille, 5–7 styll(e, 6 styl, 6–7 stil, (pa. tense and pa. pple. stild), 7 stile, 6– still.
[Aphetic form of distil v.]
† 1. intr. To trickle down or fall in minute drops: = distil v. 1. Obs.
| a 1300 K. Horn 676 (Camb. MS.) For Rymenhild weop ille, & horn let þe tires stille. c 1407 Lydg. Reason & Sens. 6307 Eke her stremys cristallyn That fro her chekys stylle doun Kam al of deuocioun. c 1450 Burgh Secrees 1861 Watir is profitable..neer to Citees stillyng as perlys Rounde. c 1470 Henryson Mor. Fab. viii. (Preach. Swallow) ix, With heit and moysture stilland frome the sky. 1526 R. Whitford Martiloge 114 b, Whan the abbot was buryed, oyle stylled out of his graue. 1534 Elyot Cast. Helthe ii. xxvii. (1541) 43 b, So that he drinke not a greate glutte, but in a littell quantitee, let it stil downe softly into his stomacke, as he sitteth. 1549–62 Sternhold & H. Ps. cii. 9 And mingled haue [I] my drink with teares that fro mine eyes haue stild. 1560 Bible (Geneva) Deut. xxxii. 2 My speache shal stil as doeth the dewe. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. ii. 29 If that any drop of slombring rest Did chaunce to still into her weary spright. 1596 Lodge Wits Miserie P j b, Lying continually on my backe, water stilleth vpon mine eies, yet I for sloth sake forsake not my bed. c 1690 Archibald in Macfarlane's Geogr. Collect. (S.H.S.) III. 189 The Water stills down into the Pit, wherewith they then fill their Pans. |
† b. Of a person: To melt into tears. Obs.
| 1412–20 Lydg. Troy Bk. iv. 3614 And in-to terys he gan stille and reyne, As he wolde for verray sorwe deye. |
† 2. trans. To exude, discharge, or give forth in minute drops. Obs.
| 1412–1530 Myrr. our Ladye (1873) 285 The braunches of the bawlme tree when they are cutte, they stylle moste vertuous and swete lyquore. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 183 Whiche neuer ceased to styll the swete balme of mercy & pite. 1610 Heywood Golden Age iii. i, With rage and fury fright pale Pity hence, And drown him in the sweat your bodies still. 1646 Crashaw Steps, Another on Death Herrys 35 Wet with teares still'd from the eyes Of the flinty Destinyes. a 1660 Contemp. Hist. Irel. (Ir. Archæol. Soc.) II. 60 More reason should perswade me to doe it, then Dido the queene dowager of Cartagh to stile continually waterie pearles from her charminge lookes for the absence of Eneas. 1693 Dryden Juvenal iii. 122 His once unkem'd, and horrid Locks, behold, Stilling sweet Oyl. |
† b. To cause to distil or fall in drops. Obs.
| 1576 Baker Gesner's Jewell of Health 131 b, If you styll one drop into the water. 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. ii. iv. Columnes 703 For you my smoothest quill His sweetest hony on this Book should still. c 1611 Chapman Iliad xix. 36 She, with her faire hand, still'd into, the nostrils of his friend, Red Nectar, and Ambrosia. 1624 Quarles Job Milit. xvii. N 2, He pricks the Clouds, stils downe the raine by drops. 1719 D'Urfey Pills IV. 74 A Morn of May, which drops of Dew down stilleth. |
† c. fig. To instil. Obs.
| 1551 Udall Erasm. Par. Matt. iii. 1 That the thyng whiche euer should be beleued, might by lytle and lytle be stilled [1548 instylled] and put into the hartes of men. |
3. To subject to the process of distillation: = distil v. 4. Now rare or Obs.
| a 1400 Stockh. Med. MS. ii. 455 in Anglia XVIII. 318 Do stille þese erbes be hemselwe. c 1450 ME. Med. Bk. (Heinrich) 102 After stille hem in a stillatorye. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 96 Herbes to still in Sommer. 1646 Quarles Judgem. & Mercy (1651) 1 My recreations shall be to still Pleasure into a Quintessence. 1647 R. Josselin Diary (Camden 1908) 42 Wee had plenty of roses; stilled some May 22. 1694 Crowne Married Beau iv. 52, I'll see..Whether it be a Flower or a Weed, Which you are stilling in this Limbeck here. c 1770 H. Glasse Compl. Confectioner 274 Then still them in a limbeck with a slow fire, and take care your still does not burn. |
† b. transf. To extract the essence of (meat). Also intr. of the meat. Obs.
| 1584 Cogan Haven Health clvii. 133 When it hath stilled so many houres, then take out the earthen pot,..streine out the broth [etc.]. 1591 A. W. Bk. Cookrye 11 b, To still a cock for a weake body that is consumed. Take a red Cock that is not too olde, and beate him to death, and..fley him and quarter him in small peeces [etc.]. |
4. To extract or produce by distillation. Obs.
| a 1400 Stockh. Med. MS. ii. 448 in Anglia XVIII. 318 To styllyn [þer]of water for eyne is good. 1483 Cath. Angl. 364/2 To Stille waters, stillare, distillare. 1530 Palsgr. 736/1 Stylle some Damaske water, for it is good. 1534 Elyot Cast. Helthe ii. viii. (1541) 24 In al cholerike feuers, the decoction of this herbe, or the water therof stilled, is right expedient. 1587 Marlowe 1st Pt. Tamburl. v. ii. 1946 (Brooke), The heauenly Quintessence they still From their immortall flowers of Poesy. ? c 1600 Distr. Emperor ii. i. in Bullen Old Pl. (1884) III. 186 All the poysons and sharpe corrosyves Styll'd in the lymbecke of damde pollycie. 1660 T. Watson in Spurgeon Treas. David (1874) IV. 459 When we give him the soul in a duty,..by a holy chemistry we still out the spirits. 1681 R. Knox Hist. Ceylon 146 Others stilled Rack to sell. 1706–7 Farquhar Beaux' Strat. ii. i, Brewing of Diet-drinks, and stilling Rose-mary-Water. |
† b. to still away: to remove or drive off by distillation. Obs.
| 1628 Donne Serm. (1649) II. 395 It is a miserable Alchimy and extracting of spirits, that stills away the spirit, the soule it selfe. |
† c. to still forth: To yield when distilled. Obs.
| 1605 Timme Quersit. i. v. 21 Those saltes, being put into a retort..with a receiver, stilleth forth a volatile salt. |
† d. intr. to still out: To issue from something that is being distilled. Obs.
| 1799 G. Smith Laboratory I. 436 Every drop of water, which may happen to be mixed with the wine, will still out. |
† e. absol. To practise distillation. Obs.
| ? 1668 Lady Lyttelton in Hatton Corr. (Camden) 54, I want..a house keeper that can preserve and still well. |
▪ V. still, adv.
(stɪl)
Forms: see still a.
[OE. stille = OS., OHG. stillo (MDu., MHG., mod.G. stille, Du. stil, Sw. stilla, Da. stille):—OTeut. type *stillō, related to *stilljo- still a.]
† 1. a. Without noise or commotion; quietly, silently; in a low voice, softly. Obs.
| c 1205 Lay. 735 Riht al swo stille stelen swa we wolden. a 1225 Juliana (Royal MS.) 36 Heo..stille bute stefne þus to criste cleopede. a 1250 Prov. ælfred 325 Wimmon weped..lude and stille, for to vordrye hire wille. a 1275 Ibid. B. 653 Þe bicche bitit ille þau[h] [printed þan] he berke stille. a 1300 Havelok 2997 Seye a pater-noster stille, For him þat haueth þe rym[e] maked. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 15852 Brian stirt forþ in hure weye, & stille seide þat he wolde seye. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. i. (1495) 2 Yf I played in felde other medes Stylle other wyth noys I prayed helpe in all my dedes. 1483 Caxton Golden Leg. 263 b/1 He sayd thus to hym self alle stylle. 1544 Betham Precepts War i. liv. D j b, By whyche meane, the streame beneth wyl ronne more gently and styll. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 267 b, That they myght go styll and closely to their enemies campe. |
† b. Secretly. Obs.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2015 One and stille ðoȝt hire gamen wið ioseph speken and plaiȝen samen. Ibid. 2718 And moyses druȝ him to ðe strond, And stille he dalf him [in] ðe sond. a 1300 K. Horn 287 (Camb. MS.) Þu schalt wiþ me to bure gon, To speke wiþ Rymenhild stille. 1375 Barbour Bruce xvii. 71 [He] held the spek preue and still. |
† c. still and loud: both in secret and openly; under all circumstances: = loud and still, loud adv. 1 b.
| [a 1250: see 1.] c 1320 Cast. Love 944 Þat al he..mis-doþ his neiȝebours boþe stille and loud. c 1400 Rom. Rose 7532 Fair-Welcoming..That ofte hath pleyed with you..The fairest games..Withoute filthe, stille or loude. 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas iii. v. (1554) 73 Among the people, both still and loude, He called was Tarquinius the proude. |
2. At rest, motionless; without change of place or attitude. With certain verbs. (In ME. often in alliterative phrase still as stone, stone still; in mod.Eng. occas. stock still.)
For the justification for treating the word in this use as adv. rather than as adj. complement, see note to still a. 1.
a. to stand still. (Sometimes merely a more explicit synonym of the vb. stand in senses 4, 27, and 32.)
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 262 Seo sunne stod stille. c 1200 Ormin 2137 All swa summ þe steoressmann Aȝȝ lokeþþ till an steorrne, Þatt stannt aȝȝ still upp o þe lifft & swiþe brihhte shineþþ. a 1300 Cursor M. 8188 Þe strem all still began to stand. c 1300 Leg. Gregory (Schulz) 401 Gregorij stod stille so ston. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xii. 50 It rynnes noȝt, ne nowþer ebbez ne flowez, bot standez ay still. 1523–34 Fitzherb. Husb. §132 A tree hath a propertye to growe to a certayne heyght, and whan he commeth to that heyghte, he standeth styll. 1526 Tindale Matt. xx. 32 Then Iesus stode styll, and called them. 1533 More Answ. Poysoned Bk. Wks. 1062/1 How the running riuer of Jordane stode still. 1548 in Vicary's Anat. (1888) App. iii. i. 134 Y⊇ other ij Aldermen..which then shall remayne and stond still in the seyd office. 1577 Kendall Flowers of Epigr., Trifles 10 b, The Bowe that bended standeth still, his strength will loose and lack. 1600 Shakes. Sonn. civ, So your sweete hew, which me thinkes still doth stand Hath motion, and mine eye may be deceaued. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 740 The Ship stood still, and neither stirred forward or backwards. 1662 Playford Skill Mus. iii. (1672) 15 When your Bass standeth still (that is to say, hath two or more Notes together in one and the same place). 1668 R. Steele Husbandm. Calling iii. (1672) 30 If God's providence above, and his plough below stand still, we must all shortly beg or starve. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 129 ¶1 A Clock that stands still is sure to point right once in twelve Hours. 1712 Ibid. No. 407 ¶1 Our Preachers stand stock still in the Pulpit. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. x, One of the horses took it into his head to stand still. 1828 Lytton Pelham lxiv, I paused, and my heart stood still. 1858 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XIX. i. 193 This shoot becomes a worthless tree..which after a few years' growth stands still. 1861 F. Nightingale Nursing 32 Many people seem to think that the world stands still while they are away, or at dinner, or ill. 1877 A. B. Edwards Up Nile xii. 317 Time seems to have stood as still as in that immortal palace where everything went to sleep for a hundred years. |
b. to sit still, lie still. (See the senses of the verbs.)
| c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 438 Hire swuster Maria sæt stille æt Drihtnes fotum. c 1200 Ormin 5839 Forr leness whellp þæp þær itt iss Whellpedd, tær liþ itt stille. c 1205 Lay. 3060 Þus seide þe mæiden..& seoððen set swþe stille. c 1250 Owl & Night. 282 Me is leof to habbe reste And sitte stille in myne neste. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 243 To deþe he sset his owe fader þat he lai þer stille. a 1300 Cursor M. 20509 Sittes stell now mar and lesse, And hers now þes mirines. c 1386 Chaucer Sompn. T. 492 The lady of the hous al stille sat, Til she had herd what the frere sayde. c 1460 J. Metham Wks. (E.E.T.S.) 60/1617 But Cleopes for fere lay ston stylle. c 1470 Henry Wallace i. 247 In that same hous thai socht him beselye; Bot he sat still, and span full conandly. 1530 Palsgr. 719/1, I syt styll, I remove nat, je ne me bouge. Let every man syt styll on payne of his lyfe. 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VI, 171 Kyng Henry..perceyving that the duke of Yorke lay still, and made no open apparance, of assemble or commocion, returned. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 56 Folke saie, better syt styll than ryse and fall. 1611 Bible Zech. i. 11 And behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest. 1671 Milton P.R. iii. 164 And think'st thou to regain Thy right by sitting still or thus retiring? 1688 Bunyan Heav. Footman (1886) 182 He that backslideth, and he that sitteth still in sin. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 50 ¶7 This lazy People sat still above three hours. 1859 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 7, I rose at six, tired of lying still. 1901 Sir Redvers Buller in Scotsman 11 Oct. 5/8, I said..‘He is a gallant fellow; he will sit still to the end.’ |
† c. With other verbs, as abide, dwell. Obs.
In the 15–16th c. quots. there is a transition to senses 3, 4.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 308 Dwelle ȝyt with me a woke stylle. 13.. Seuyn Sages (W.) 1533 The child bileft still in prisoun. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 2746 In purgatori saules dueles stille Until þai be clensed of alle ille. c 1393 Chaucer Scogan 39 That rustyth in myn schede stylle in pes. 1393 Regist. Aberbrothoc (Bannatyne Club) II. 43 Of the xxxv marcis v marcis sal dwel style in the abbotis hand..quhillys the quer be thekyt and alurryt al abowyt with stane. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xii. xxxvi. (1495) 435 The vulture huntyth fro mydday to nyght and restyth styl fro the sonne rysinge to that tyme. c 1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 1960, I pray yow for to dwel her still. a 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 25 Be it [a bandage] festned fast to þe girdel vpon þe womb, and lat it abide so stille to þe tyme come þat it be eft-sones remoued. c 1430 How Gd. Wife taught Dau. 140 in Babees Bk., Wheþer þat þei dwelle stille or þei wende awey. 1526 Tindale John xi. 6 Then aboode he two dayes still in the same place where he was. 1554 Interl. Youth (Waley) B j b, Let him come if he will, He were better to bide styll. 1560 Nice Wanton (facs.) C ij, Where it groweth strong there wil it abide stil. |
3. a. With reference to action or condition: Without change, interruption, or cessation; continually, constantly; on every occasion, invariably; always. Obs. exc. poet.
| c 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 5645 He broȝte hom alle to is wille, And hor olde seruage made hom holde al stille. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 337 In tokne..That sche schal duelle a maiden stille. c 1450 Godstow Reg. 649 Except candyl vppon candylmes day, the whyche the seyd mynchyns shul haue stylle. 1490 Caxton Eueydos xv. 58 Fame..hath..tonges..that speken stylle without ceasse. 1535 Coverdale Isa. lx. 11 Thy gates shal stonde open still both day and night. 1535 ― Eccl. i. 4 One generacion passeth awaye, another commeth, but the earth abydeth still [1611 for ever]. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 12 b, Delius..was called a cunnyng swymmer that could kepe hym selfe styll above water without perill of drounyng. 1544 Betham Precepts War ii. lxviii. L vij b, It is not conuenient ne yet necessary to vse one espye styll. 1549 Latimer Ploughers (Arb.) 21 That plough God woulde haue styll going. 1570 Levins Manip. 124/5 Stil, iugiter. 1581 G. Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. iii. (1586) 154 They learne to liue as if they were still at the point to dye. 1600 Shakes. Sonn. cxxvi, She may detaine, but not still keepe her tresure! 1613 Day Festiv., Serm. vii. (1615) 20 How beit the Maister cannot still be at home, the Mistresse may. 1617 R. Brathwait Smoking Age 194 marg., Thus haue I prov'd Tobacco good or ill; Good, if rare taken; Bad, if taken still. a 1643 W. Cartwright Ordinary i. ii. (1651) 6 Woman was Not made to be alone still. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. v. v. 19, 48 Miles above the Earth..There is never no Rain, Dew, Hail, Snow, or Wind, but still a clear serenity. c 1680 Beveridge Serm. (1729) I. 114 Thus it is that God still governs and orders every thing in the world. 1704 Trapp Abra-Mulé ii. i. 494 His past Reign, which still has been attended With one continu'd Series of Misfortunes. 1704 Pope Disc. Past. Poetry §10 Spenser's..Stanza is not still the same, nor always well chosen. 1737 Doddridge Hymn, Oh God of Bethel, by whose Hand Thine Israel still is fed. 1763 Goldsm. Introd. Nat. Hist. Misc. Wks. (1837) II. 517 The rook, if undisturbed, would never leave its native wood, the blackbird still frequents its accustomed hedge. 1766 Reid Let. in Wks. 1863 I. 44/1 But you must direct them [workmen] in everything, and be still over the work. 1781 Burns 1st Ps. 8 The man..Who..with humility and awe Still walks before his God. 1817 Coleridge Biog. Lit. xvii. (1882) 171 The un⁓meaning repetitions..which an unfurnished..understanding interposes at short intervals in order to keep hold of his subject, which is still slipping from him. 1819 Scott Noble Moringer xxii, God rest the Baron in his grave, he still was kind to me! 1864 Anster 2nd Pt. Faust i. 23 You never can get fools to understand How luck and merit still go hand in hand. 1865 Swinburne Atalanta 30 Howbeit these..Devise new things and good, not one thing still. |
† b. still still: on every occasion; ever more and more. Obs.
| 1592 Nashe Strange Newes Observ. for Rdrs. M 2 b, I am..constrained still still, before I am warme in any one vaine, to start away sodainely. 1593 ― Christs T. 39 b, With example thou first exalteth them, and still still liftes them vp, till thou hast lifted vp theyr heads on thy gates. 1594 ― Terrors Nt. Wks. 1904 I. 354 This slimie melancholy humor still still thickning as it stands still. |
† c. still opece (still opese, still opeese; corruptly still off pees, still a peace), continuously. (See piece n. 14 b.) Obs.
There are 24 examples in Syr Generydes; otherwise the phrase occurs in our quots. only twice.
| c 1440 [see piece n. 14 b]. c 1470 Henry Wallace viii. 933 Ȝeit still off pees the ost lugyt all nycht. 1555 Still a peace [see piece n. 14 b]. |
† d. still as: whenever. Obs.
| a 1656 Hales Serm. Eton iv. (1673) 60 A loose, but a rich fellow..was wont to walk the streets with a purse of money, and still as he met any man he would give him a box on the ear, and then a twelve-pence. |
e. † still and anon, † still an end (obs.): constantly from time to time. So Sc. still and on: ‘nevertheless, notwithstanding, yet’ (Eng. Dial. Dict.).
| 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. iv. iv. 67 A Slaue, that still an end, turnes me to shame. 1595 ― John iv. i. 47, I..like the watchfull minutes, to the houre, Still and anon cheer'd vp the heauy time. a 1894 Stevenson in Pall Mall Gaz. (1895) 21 Jan. 2/3 O still ayont the muckle sea, Still are ye dear, and dear to me, Auld Reekie, still and on! 1910 N. Munro in Blackw. Mag. Feb. 221/1 ‘Still-and-on,’ said pawky Jamie Birrell cheerily, ‘one may have a turn of the raptures too, falling back on the affections when they're done.’ |
f. With words denoting increase or progress: Ever more and more.
| 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. vi. 18 Sir Arthegall renewed His strength still more, but she still more decrewed. 1605 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. i. Vocat. 235 All their Cattell proves, Still, still increasing like to Stares and Doves. c 1643 Ld. Herbert Autobiog. (1824) 74, I attended my studies seriously, the more I learnt out of my Books, adding still a desire to know more. 1682 Sir T. Browne Chr. Mor. iii. §6 He who thus still advanceth in Iniquity deepneth his deformed hue. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 289 All below, whether by Nature's Curse, Or Fate's Decree, degen'rate still to worse. 1703 Pope Thebais 527 Thus still his courage, with his toils encreas'd. 1779 Johnson L.P., Dryden Wks. II. 420 Whatever subjects employed his pen, he was still improving our measures &c. 1807 J. Barlow Columb. i. 216 Its form unfolding as it still draws nigh. 1820 Shelley Skylark 10 Thou..singing still dost soar, and soaring ever singest. |
4. Indicating the continuance of a previous action or condition. a. Now (or at the time in question) as formerly.
| 1535 Joye Apol. Tindale 38 But and if Tindale wil nedis saye styll that I mocke out the Resurreccion. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 255 b, If he came to any commen plaies or open sightes, it is y⊇ guise even yet still that reverence bee dooen to hym. 1587 in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. V. 140 They take priests and other Catholics still very often; and now they begin to persecute also the schismatics. 1600 Shakes. Sonn. civ, For as you were when first your eye I eyde, Such seemes your beautie still. 1620 Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 783/1 Minerallis..quhilkis hithertill hes lyin and still lyis obscure and hid within the bowellis and centre of the earth. 1689 in Acts Parlt. Scotl. (1875) XII. 79/2 Wee are still of the same mind quhich we did express in our former letter. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 164 ¶11 Their Tombs are still to be seen. 1760 Johnson Idler No. 100 ¶1 There still remain many words among us undefined. 1763 J. Brown Poetry & Mus. v. 52 But the reason is still to seek. 1778 F. Burney Evelina xi. (1791) I. 27 Seeing me still very much flurried, he led me to a seat. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) VIII. 462/2 The naval or rostral crown is still used with coats-of-arms. 1837 Whewell Hist. Induct. Sci. iii. iv. I. 207 Another writer on the same subject is Menelaus,..whose three books on Spherics still remain. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 592 Bridgewater was one of the few towns which still had some Whig magistrates. 1857 Buckle Civiliz. I. xi. 626 One of those harmless prejudices that still linger round the person of the sovereign. 1893 Law Times XCIV. 559/2 In the deed the consideration was left blank, and for all I know it is blank still. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 558 The still vaguely defined and very multiform affection seborrhœa. 1906 E. V. Lucas Wand. Lond. i. 14 When I first came to London, Piccadilly still had its goat. |
¶ quasi-adj. That still is such. rare. Cf. now 16, then 9 b.
| 1879 Trollope Thackeray 22 The then and still owners of that happy periodical. |
b. contextually. Now (or at the time in question) in contrast to the future; at present, as yet.
| 1632 Lithgow Trav. vii. 301 Hauing euer one Fruite ready to be plucked..and another comming forwards.., that as some Reape, some are growing greene, others budding forth, and some still in the floorish. 1641 J. Jackson True Evang. T. i. 5 The Jews construe it [Isa. xi. 6–8], of Christ still to come, and of his temporall Monarchy. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. ii, I wrote a similar epitaph for my wife, though still living. 1824 S. E. Ferrier Inher. xliv, A few large old trees, and many young ones still in their cages. 1827 Faraday Chem. Manip. xxiv. 640 By sealing up the contracted aperture of the tube whilst it is still hot. 1849 Sir G. C. Lewis Lett. (1870) 213 This is still in fieri. 1864 Meredith Emilia lv, He had waxed precociously philosophic, when still a junior. 1874 Green Short Hist. ii. §1. 62 The greater part of English soil was still utterly uncultivated. |
c. After as before some point of time; in future as up to the present; further. ? Obs.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 9 And though you receyue it not at your owne wyll, knocke styll, call on and perseuer, and you shall not mysse. 1577 Kendall Flowers of Epigr. 104 b, Poore haue I been, and poore I am, and poore still shall I bee. 1597–8 Bacon Ess., Regim. Health (Arb.) 56 Discerne of the comming on of yeares, and thinke not to doe the same things still. 1611 Bible Exod. ix. 2 For if thou refuse to let them goe, and wilt hold them still, [etc.]. 1641 J. Jackson True Evang. T. iii. 216 If it flie from thee as swift as a Roe or Hinde, yet follow the chace still. 1702 Rowe Tamerl. iv. i. 1539 Oh! Death! thou gentle end of Human Sorrows Still must my weary Eyelids vainly wake In tedious Expectation of thy Peace. |
† d. Continuously in the same direction as before; further. Obs.
| 1602 Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 456/2 Keipand the said dyke southeist throuch Henderstoun-burne, and thairfra still southeist keipand the said dyke till it cum to the merche. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 182 Our course lay still from Swalley Road. Ibid. 186 Thence we sailed still South. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 173 To keep still on southing as well as East. 1769 De Foe's Tour Gt. Brit. (ed. 7) II. 365 Going still West, we came to Caermarthen. |
e. In addition; after the apparent ending of a series; yet.
| 1790 Cowper Let. 27 Feb., P.S...Still another P.S. 1857 Ruskin Pol. Econ. Art i. §27 There is one thought still, the saddest of all, bearing on this withholding of early help. |
5. In a further degree. a. Used to emphasize a comparative; = yet.
| 1730 Lett. to Sir W. Strickland rel. Coal Trade 33 The Woodmongers Abuse..of a former Charter leaves still less Reason to fear they shou'd succeed. 1748 Richardson Clarissa VII. 393 But the generosity of her mind..is what stings me most. And the more still, as it is now out of my power any way..to be even with her. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. V. 50 The lower part of the neck..is covered with still smaller feathers than those on the belly and back. 1788 J. Brown tr. Elem. Med. I. 159 The sthenic diathesis, taking place in a high degree over the whole body, but in a still higher in the vessels of the skin. 1830 Carlyle Richter Again Ess. 1840 II. 321 The two households stood like concave mirrors reflecting one another's keen hunger into a still keener for both. 1832 Brewster Nat. Magic ix. 243 Returning to the spot next day, he heard the sound still louder than before. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iv. I. 494 But already that feeling had been indicated by still stronger and more terrible signs. 1884 Pennington Wiclif viii. 247 He expresses himself still more strongly in his unprinted writings. 1912 J. L. Myres Dawn of Hist. viii. 174 The Late-Minoan period is more precisely dated still. |
b. Sometimes used where the comparative notion is merely implied. Now rare or Obs.
| 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 229 The guilt beeing great, the feare doth still exceede. 1697 C'tess D'Aunoy's Trav. (1706) 140 Their hands have no defect, they are little, white, and well shaped. Their large sleeves..still contribute to make them appear less. 1705 Addison Italy Ded., Whatever great Impressions an Englishman must have of Your Lordship, they who have been Conversant Abroad will find 'em still improv'd. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 233 ¶2 When thus much was obtained for him, their Minds still softened towards him. 1762 Goldsm. Nash 47 Their mutton, butter, fish, and fowl, are all allowed to be excellent, and their cookery still exceeds their meat. |
6. With adversative notion. a. [Developed from sense 4.] After or at the same time with some event or condition implied to be adverse; even then.
| a 1699 Stillingfl. Serm. xxxvi. Wks. 1710 I. 564 If we ask, Cannot good Men differ about some things, and yet be good still? Yes. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 27 ¶1 While they pant after Shade and Covert, they still affect to appear in the most glittering Scenes of Life. 1770 Goldsm. Des. Vill. 212 For e'en though vanquished, he could argue still. 1861 F. Nightingale Nursing 22 Nothing can make such a room healthy. Ventilation would improve it, but still it would be unhealthy. |
b. quasi-conj. In spite of what has been stated or conceded; nevertheless, notwithstanding, yet. Sometimes preceded by but, or followed by however.
| 1722 De Foe Plague (1754) 7 'Tis true, St. Giles's buried two and thirty, but still as there was but one of the Plague, People began to be easy. 1779 Mirror No. 66 Still, however, with all these precautions to introduce the thought in a familiar and easy manner, he is aware of her displeasure. 1816 J. Wilson City of Plague ii. ii. 67, I know well That they who love their friends most tenderly Still bear their loss the best. 1820 Milner Suppl. Mem. Eng. Cath. 14 It is the law of nature and of the gospel that we should obey the constituted authority of the state... Still this obedience has its limits. 1825 Macaulay Ess., Milton ¶40 Still, however, there was another extreme which, though far less dangerous, was also to be avoided. 1837 P. Keith Bot. Lex. 368 The quadrupeds, whose look, though prone, is still well suited to their form and condition. 1847 C. Brontë J. Eyre xvii, The soul..has an interpreter—often an unconscious, but still a truthful interpreter—in the eye. 1865 Swinburne Chastelard i. ii. (1894) 23 The legend is writ small: Still one makes out this—Cave—if you look. 1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay vii, I confess I lost hope as she spoke, still I begged for an interview with the incoming teacher. |
c. still and all: nevertheless, even so; after all. colloq.
| 1829 G. Griffin Collegians I. vii. 140 Lord K..gave him a lease o' that farm... Still an' all, Myles do be poor, for he never knew how to keep a hoult o' the money. 1928 F. N. Hart Bellamy Trial iv. 104 Still and all, I believe that he was there precisely when he said he was. 1942 G. Marx Let. 16 Dec. (1967) 32 Still and all, as Lardner would say, it's a very cozy little place. 1963 A. Lubbock Austral. Roundabout 77 ‘Still-and-all,’ they said, ‘it's no use worrying over things y' can't help, is it?’ 1969 Guardian 18 Aug. 9/5 Still and all, it is surely time to desist in good grace. 1978 R. Moore Big Paddle (1979) i. 4 Still and all, if you see something I haven't, let me know. |
7. Comb. and quasi-Comb. When qualifying an attributive adj., the adv. is usually hyphened. a. In sense 1, the hyphened collocations may be regarded as genuine combinations, but are rare.
| 1535 Coverdale Isa. viii. 6 The people refuseth the stil-renninge water of Silo. 1897 Standard 2 Oct. 2/2 On the banks of the still-flowing Medway. |
b. In sense 3, ‘always’, ‘ever’.
Many instances of the quasi-combination resulting from the prefixing of the adv. to an adj. or ppl. adj. occur in Shakespeare, though the hyphen is rarely used in the early edd. In the 17th and 18th c. the use was common, but confined to poetry; in the 19th c. it scarcely occurs, this sense of the adv. having become rare even in verse. See also still-green a.
| 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 84 In silent wonder of still gazing eyes. 1610 ― Temp. i. ii. 229 To fetch dewe From the still-vext Bermoothes. 1597 Bp. Hall Sat. ii. ii. 30 To consume in vaine In latter Euen,..Ill-smelling oyles, or some still-watching lights. 1599 B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. v. vi, Monthly, we spend our still-repaired shine, And not forbid our virgin-waxen torch To burne and blaze. 1603 J. Davies (Heref.) Microcosmos 231 That still-closed booke of secrets. 1605 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. 1 Vocat. 553 On a still-rocking couch lies blear-ey'd Sleep. 1609 Daniel Civ. Wars viii. xcii. 226 His religious Confessor (who best Could cast, with what a violent accesse, This feuer of Ambition did molest His still-sick minde). 1615 Chapman Odyss. xiii. 424 Thou still-wit-varying wretch! 1619 A. Newman Pleas. Vis. C 4 b, My seruants haue..Still-liuing honors, and lou'd Fame. 1727–46 Thomson Summer 1641 The generous still-improving mind. 1742 Young Nt. Th. vi. 9 Tardy pressure's still-increasing weight. 1761 Glover Medea ii. vi. 36 The settled frown, The still-renew'd upbraiding? 1780 Cowper Progr. Error 550 His still refuted quirks he still repeats. 1783 Crabbe Village ii. 164 To bid the still-recurring thoughts depart. 1875 Browning Aristoph. Apol. 77 Each prim stiff phrase Of each old play, my still-new laughing-stock, Had meaning. |
c. In sense 4 a, ‘now as before’, quasi-combinations of this kind are still formed freely.
| 1609 J. Davies (Heref.) Holy Roode I 3, Thy still-fresh-bleeding Wounds. 1648 J. Beaumont Psyche vi. cccii, As for the bugbear Threat of Death, behold Its confutation in still-florid Me. 1732 Belle Assemblée II. 210 Kerme having seen his still-admir'd Leonora in the possession of what alone could make her happy. 1772 Cowper Let. to J. Hill 5 Nov., The only return I can make you, for your many acts of still-continued friendship. 1855 Milman Lat. Chr. xiv. x. (1864) IX. 355 It is believed by a still-diminishing few that [etc.]. 1864 Pusey Lect. Daniel (1876) 323 Most of these Psalms lament over the still-continuing abandonment to the Heathen. 1890 Gross Gild Merch. I. 132 The still-existing Company of Merchants of Carlisle. |
▪ VI. still
obs. form of style v.