Image:Tabletten.JPG|thumb|Assorted pills
English

Pronunciation
IPA|pɪl
audio|en-uk-pill.ogg|Audio (UK)
audio|en-us-pill.ogg|Audio (US)
:Rhymes: Rhymes:English:-ɪl|-ɪl

Etymology 1
From Middle Low German or Middle Dutch pille (Dutch pil), probably from Latin pilula.

Noun
en-noun

1. A small portion of a drug or drugs to be taken orally, usually of roughly cylindrical shape, often coated to prolong dissolution or ease swallowing.

#*1864, Benjamin Ellis, The Medical Formulary ¹
#*:Take two pills every hour in the apyrexia of intermittent fever, until eight are taken.

1. the pill: A pill which functions as a contraceptive.

#*1986, Jurriaan Plesman, Getting Off the Hook: Treatment of Drug Addiction and Social Disorders Through Body and Mind ²
#*:Many specialists are requesting that this vitamin be included in all contraceptive pills, as women on the pill have a tendency to be depressed.

1. A contemptible, annoying, or unpleasant person.

#*2000, Susan Isaacs, Shining Through ³
#*:Instead, I saw a woman in her mid-fifties, who was a real pill; while all the others had managed a decent �So pleased,� or even a plain �Hello,� Ginger just inclined her head, as if she was doing a Queen Mary imitation.

1. A small piece of any substance, for example a ball of fibres formed on the surface of a textile by rubbing.

#*1999, Wally Lamb, I Know This Much Is True ⁴
#*:One sleeve, threadbare and loaded with what my mother called �sweater pills,� hung halfway to the floor.

1. context|archaic|baseball|slang A baseball term meaning the ball.

#*2002, John Klima, Pitched Battle: 35 of Baseball's Greatest Duels from the Mound ⁵
#*:Mr. Fisher contributed to the Sox effort when he threw the pill past second baseman Rath after Felsch hit him a comebacker.

1. A comical or entertaining person.
2. obsolete A small inlet or creek of a tidal river, especially one with a landing stage or wharf.

Translations
trans-top|A small portion of a drug or drugs to be taken orally
Arabic: Arab|حبة د�اء IPAchar|(ħábbet daw��) f
Chinese: �丸 (yàowán)
Danish: pille c, tablet c
Dutch: pil
Finnish: pilleri
French: pilule f
German: Pille f
Hungarian: pirula
trans-mid
Italian: pillola f
Japanese: 丸� (����, ganyaku)
Korean: �� (alyak)
Kurdish: KUchar|ح��ب
Portuguese: pílula f
Russian: �абле�ка (tablétka) f, пил�л� (piljúlja) f
Spanish: píldora f
Swedish: piller n, tablett c
trans-bottom

trans-top|A pill which functions as a contraceptive
Danish: pille c
Dutch: pil
trans-mid
Swedish: p-piller n
trans-bottom

trans-top|A contemptible, annoying, or unpleasant person
trans-mid
trans-bottom

trans-top|A small piece of any substance
trans-mid
trans-bottom

checktrans
ttbc|French: pilule f (1,2); comprimé m (1)
ttbc|German: Pille f (1), die Pille f (2)
ttbc|Greek: �ά�ι (1,2)
ttbc|Portuguese: pílula f (1,2), comprimido m (1)

Verb
en-verb

1. intransitive|textiles Of a woven fabric surface, to form small matted balls of fiber.

#*1997, Jo Sharp, Knitted Sweater Style: Inspirations in Color ⁶
#*:During processing, inferior short fibers (which can cause pilling and itching) are removed to enhance the natural softness of the yarn and to improve its wash-and-wear performance.

1. To form into the shape of a pill.

#: Pilling is a skill rarely used by modern pharmacists.

1. To medicate with pills.

#: She pills herself with all sorts of herbal medicines.

Etymology 2
Latin pilare �depilate�, from pilus �hair�.

Verb
en-verb

1. obsolete To peel; to remove the outer layer of hair, skin, or bark.
2. obsolete To pillage; to despoil or impoverish.

Related terms
morning-after pill
on the pill
pill popper
pop pills
tablet

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• 2007-12-27 15:19 - DCDuring - /* Verb */ medicate sense, examples

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