“pilled” is a form of
pill
/pɪl/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms pills pilling pilled p1ll
- noun (broadly) A small, usually round or cylindrical object designed for easy swallowing, usually containing some sort of medication.
- noun (strictly) Such an object that is of solid constitution (usually of compressed, bonded powder) rather than a capsule (with a shell containing loose powder or liquid).
- noun (informal, uncountable, definite, i.e. used with "the") Contraceptive medication, usually in the form of a pill to be taken by a woman; an oral contraceptive pill. “Jane went on the pill when she left for college.”
- noun Something offensive, unpleasant or nauseous which must be accepted or endured.
- noun (slang) A contemptible, annoying, or unpleasant person.
- noun (slang) A comical or entertaining person.
- noun (textiles) A small piece of any substance, for example a ball of fibers formed on the surface of a textile fabric by rubbing.
- noun (baseball slang) A baseball.
- verb (intransitive, textiles) Of a woven fabric surface, to form small matted balls of fiber. “This sweater is already pilled: it fuzzed after the very first wash.”
- verb To form into the shape of a pill. “Pilling is a skill rarely used by modern pharmacists.”
- verb (transitive) To medicate with pills; to administer pills to. “She pills herself with all sorts of herbal medicines.”
- verb (intransitive) To take recreational drugs in pill form.
- verb (transitive, Internet slang) To persuade or convince someone of something.
- verb (transitive, UK, slang, dated) To blackball (a potential club member).
- verb (obsolete) To peel; to remove the outer layer of hair, skin, or bark.
- verb To peel; to make by removing the skin.
- verb To be peeled; to peel off in flakes.
- verb (obsolete) To pillage; to despoil or impoverish.
- noun (obsolete) The peel or skin.
- noun (now UK regional) An inlet on the coast; a small tidal pool or bay. Pill can occur in the name of such an inlet.
Synonyms
bobble crawbeen fuzzball lint ball cap tablet lozenge tab birth control pill contraceptive pill oral contraceptive pill oral contraceptive anovulatory drug anovulant
Etymology
From Middle English pille (also pillem), a borrowing from Middle Low German pille or Middle Dutch pille (whence Dutch pil), probably from Latin pila, pilula.
* (persuade or convince): Generalized from red pill.
From Middle English pillen, pilen, from Old English pilian (“to peel”), from Latin pilō (“depilate”), from pilus (“hair”). Doublet of peel.
From Middle English *pill, *pyll, from Old English pyll (“a pool, pill”), from Proto-Germanic *pullijaz (“small pool, ditch, creek”), diminutive of Proto-Germanic *pullaz (“pool, stream”), from Proto-Indo-European *bl̥nos (“bog, marsh”). Cognate with Old English pull (“pool, creek”), Scots poll (“slow moving stream, creek, inlet”), Icelandic pollur (“pond, pool, puddle”). More at pool.
From the common Welsh placename element Pil meaning "tidal pool, harbor," itself borrowed from English pill (“tidal creek”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun The peel or skin. [Obs.] "Some be covered over with crusts, or hard pills, as the locusts." Holland.
- verb To be peeled; to peel off in flakes.
- verb To deprive of hair; to make bald. [Obs.]
- verb To peel; to make by removing the skin.
Etymology [Cf. Peel skin, or Pillion.]
Etymology [Cf. L. pilare to deprive of hair, and E. pill, n. (above).]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “pill”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details