▪ I. shill, a. and adv. Obs. exc. dial.
(ʃɪl)
Forms: 1 scyl, 3 sille, 3–5 schille, schulle, 4–5 shyl, shille, schyll(e, shylle, shulle, 4–6 schil(l, 5–6 shyll, shil, 4–7 shill.
[ME. schille (2 syll.), app. repr. OE. *scielle, a parallel form of *sciell (late WS. scyl, occurring only once); corresp. to MHG. schel, schelle sonorous, quick in movement, luminous, early mod.Du. schelle (now schel) shrill, ON. skjall-r sonorous, resounding; f. OTeut. *skell-: see shill v.1]
A. adj. Sonorous, resonant, shrill.
| a 1000 Riming Poem 27 (Gr.) Scyl wæs hearpe, hlude hlynede. c 1220 Bestiary 572 Mirie ȝe singeð ðis mere, and haueð manie stefnes, manie and sille. a 1250 Owl & Night. 142 Heo song so lude & so scharpe, Ryht so me grulde schille harpe. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 6069 A schille horn þai gun blawe. c 1386 Chaucer Nun's Pr. T. 575 Certes, he Iakke Straw, and his meynee Ne made neuere shoutes half so shille. 1486 Bk. St. Albans d iij, That thay [the hawk's bells] be sonowre and well sowndyng and shil. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 516 Berdis schoutit in schaw, with thair schill notis. 1597 Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 46 So schill in sorrowe was hir sang, That throwe hir voce the roches rang. 1598 Meres Pallad. Tam. 276 As our breath doth make a shiller sound being sent through the narrow channell of a Trumpet then if it be diffused abroad into the open aire. 1885 W. H. Smith Walks in Weardale (ed. 2) 165 Shill, shrill. 1892 M. C. F. Morris Yorks. Folk-Talk 367 Shill, Shilly adj. This word is commonly applied to a high wind... Its meaning..is clearly ‘noisy’, ‘shrill’. |
B. adv. Sonorously, resonantly, shrilly.
| a 1250 Owl & Night. 1656 Heo..song so schille & so brihte, Þat fur & neor me hit i-herde. a 1300 Leg. Gregory 879 Þe winde blewe schille and loude. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. vii. 46 Prout of my faire fetours and for ich songe shulle. a 1400 St. Alexius (Laud 622) 561 Þonder dyned shille. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 446/1 Schylle, and scharpe, acute, aspere, sonore. 1570 Satir. Poems Reform. xiv. 2 Ane ȝoung King I hard schoutand schill. 1670 Narborough Jrnl. in Acc. Sev. Late Voy. i. (1694) 64 The Men..speak ratling in the Throat, and gross; the Women shiller and lower. 1781 Burns My Nanie, O ii, The westlin wind blaws loud an' shill. |
Hence ˈshilly adv., ˈshillness.
| a 1400–50 Wars Alex. 929 Þen schrikis schilli [Dublin shilly] all þe schalkis. 1486 Bk. St. Albans d iij, Thay [Dutch bells] be..sonowre of Ryngyng in shilnes. 1538 Elyot Dict., Sonoritas, a shyllenesse, or lowdenesse. |
▪ II. shill, v.1 Obs. exc. dial.
Forms: 1 scyllan, 3–4 schill(e, shille, 4 schull(e, 9 shill.
[OE. *sciellan (late WS. scyllan), prob. a str. vb. = OHG. scellan to resound (MHG. schellen; mod.G. only in pa. pple. verschollen having ceased to resound, hence forgotten), ON. skjalla to rattle, f. OTeut. *skell-(: skall-: skull-), whence OHG. scella fem. (mod.G. schelle) bell, OHG. scal masc. (mod.G. schall) loud sound; see also shill a.]
intr. To resound; to sound loudly.
| c 1000 in Wr.-Wülcker 215/15 Crepitat, i. resonat, scylþ, cyrmþ, ræscetteþ. c 1300 K. Horn (Laud MS.) 220 And þoruuth eche toune Horn him shilleþ soune. 13.. Guy Warw. 7286 He grad & ȝelled swiþe loude, Þat it schilled into þe cloude. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 631 Hure strokes fulle so styþ & sare þay schulde so doþ þe þonder. 1898 R. Blakeborough Wit, Char., etc. N. Riding 443 Shill v...3. [Of the wind] To make a noise something between a howl and a whistle. |
Hence ˈshilling ppl. a.
| a 1225 St. Marher. 19 ‘Cum’, quoð þe culure wið schillinde stefne. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 331 He..despisede þe smokynge and schillynge speche of mysbyleved men. c 1400 Sege Jerus. (E.E.T.S.) 528 A schillande schout. |
▪ III. shill, v.2 Now dial.
(ʃɪl)
Forms: 1 scylian, 4 schille, 5 schyllyn, 7 shel, 7–9 sheal, shill.
[OE. scylian, *scielian, ad. or cogn. w. ON. skilja, whence skill v.
App. distinct from shill v. to shell, husk: see sheel v.]
† 1. trans. To separate. Obs.
| 1049 O.E. Chron. (MS. C), On þyson ylcan ᵹeare Eadwerd eing scylode .ix. scypa of male. c 1325 Metr. Hom. 152 Our king, That wic men fra god sal schille. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 446/1 Schyllyn owte, or cullyn owte fro sundyr, segrego. 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 20 If there bee any sheepe that beginne to ragge..yow are to make the sheapheard shill them out. 1788 W. H. Marshall Yorksh. II. Gloss. s.v., To sever sheep is to shill them. 1790 Grose Prov. Gloss. (ed. 2). |
2. To curdle (milk). Also intr., to become curdled.
| 1691 Ray N.C. Words s.v., To Sheal Milk is to curdle it, to separate the parts of it. 1695 Kennett Par. Antiq. Gloss. s.v. Helowe-wall, In the North to shel or sheal milk is to curdle it. 1788 W. H. Marshall Yorksh. II. Gloss. s.v., Turning a small quantity of milk into curds and whey is called shilling it. 1855 Whitby Gloss., To Sheal or Shill, to sour milk for curds by the usual process. 1876 Mid-Yorksh. Gloss., Shill, v.a. and v.n. to curdle; to scum. |
▪ IV. shill, v.3 slang (chiefly N. Amer.).
(ʃɪl)
[f. shill n.]
1. intr. To act as a shill.
| 1914 L. E. Jackson Vocab. Criminal Slang 75 To ‘shill’ is to act in the capacity of a hired criminal. 1928 Amer. Speech III. 376 Shill, to boost for the auctioneer. 1948 F. Brown Dead Ringer 156 She was going to shill on Walter's wheel. 1965 H. Gold Man who was not with It xxv. 236 It's how to get the audience... I shilled for my wife. 1975 Weekend Mag. (Montreal) 11 Jan. 9 Canadian advertisers are confined mainly to hockey players when they're looking for an athlete to shill for them. |
2. trans. To entice (a person) as a shill; to act as a shill for (a gambling game, etc.).
| 1974 R. B. Parker God save Child xxii. 150 Doctor Croft was the one who shilled old Fraser Robinson onto Vicki's scam. 1978 M. Puzo Fools Die x. 96 Diane, the blonde that shills baccarat. |
▪ V. shill, n. slang (chiefly N. Amer.).
(ʃɪl)
[Perh. abbrev. of shillaber.]
A decoy or accomplice, esp. one posing as an enthusiastic or successful customer to encourage other buyers, gamblers, etc.
| 1916 Editor 2 Dec. 518/2 Shill, copper:—One who leads the others by patronizing a show or game. 1926 Amer. Mercury Dec. 466/1 A wrestler..offered to throw anyone for 500 smacks and a couple of shills accepted his defy. 1935 H. Davis Honey in Horn xv. 231 She had often thought of renting him out as a shill for some tent-show evangelist. 1955 T. Sterling Evil of Day xxi. 208, I used to be a shill in a Reno gambling club. 1971 J. Gray Red Lights vi. 136 The commonest trap was for a shill to haunt Ninth Avenue disguised as a farm hand. 1978 M. Puzo Fools Die ii. 19 As a shill she played with casino money... She was subject not to fate but to the fixed weekly salary she received from the casino. |
Add: b. transf. One who poses as a disinterested advocate of another but is actually of the latter's party; a mouthpiece, a stooge.
| 1976 Dun's Rev. Apr. 43/3 AEI was always suspect on Capitol Hill and in academic circles as being a shill for the corporate viewpoint. 1976 U.S. News & World Rep. 5 July 12/3 The former California Governor had to be prodded to run for President and ‘has no desire to be a shill for Ford’. 1980 Washington Post 7 Dec. (Business section) 3/2 They take pains to avoid seeming to be shills for their individual industries. 1983 Chicago Sun-Times 12 July 7 Observer? Baloney. Will was no observer. Breslin calls Will a ‘shill’ for the president and he is exactly right. |
▪ VI. shill
Sc. and north. variant of chill a.
| 1599 A. Hume Hymnes ii. 108 The shill and freesing frosts. 1876 Mid-Yorksh. Gloss., Shill, a weather term—sharply cold. |