/ pɪl; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
1.
[ C ] a small flat round piece of medicine that you swallow without chewing it :
a vitamin pill
( informal )
—see also pep pill , sleeping pill
2.
the pill or the Pill [ sing. ] a pill that some women take to prevent them becoming pregnant :
the contraceptive pill
to be / go on the pill
—see also morning-after pill
3.
[ C ] ( NAmE ) an annoying person
•
IDIOMS
- sugar / sweeten the pill
—more at bitter adjective
■ verb
[ v ] ( of a piece of clothing, especially one made of wool ) to become covered in very small balls of fibre
••
WORD ORIGIN
noun late Middle English : ultimately from Latin pilula little ball, diminutive of pila ; compare with Middle Dutch , Middle Low German pille .
verb 1960s: from the noun pill denoting a small ball of fluff, extended sense of pill tablet .