till 1
/til/ , prep.
1. up to the time of; until: to fight till death.
2. before (used in negative constructions): He did not come till today.
3. near or at a specified time: till evening.
4. Chiefly Midland, Southern, and Western U.S. before; to: It's ten till four on my watch.
5. Scot. and North Eng.
a. to.
b. unto.
conj.
6. to the time that or when; until.
7. before (used in negative constructions).
[ bef. 900; ME; OE (north) til til to, akin to OE till station, G Ziel goal. See TILL 2 ]
Usage . TILL 1 and UNTIL are both old in the language and are interchangeable as both prepositions and conjunctions: It rained till (or until ) nearly midnight. The savannah remained brown and lifeless until (or till ) the rains began. TILL is not a shortened form of UNTIL and is not spelled 'TILL. 'TIL is usually considered a spelling error, though widely used in advertising: Open 'til ten.
till 2
/til/ , v.t.
1. to labor, as by plowing or harrowing, upon (land) for the raising of crops; cultivate.
2. to plow.
v.i.
3. to cultivate the soil.
[ bef. 900; ME tilen, OE tilian to strive after, get, till; c. D telen to breed, cultivate, G zielen to aim at ]
till 3
/til/ , n.
1. a drawer, box, or the like, as in a shop or bank, in which money is kept.
2. a drawer, tray, or the like, as in a cabinet or chest, for keeping valuables.
3. an arrangement of drawers or pigeonholes, as on a desk top.
[ 1425-75; late ME tylle, n. use of tylle to draw, OE -tyllan (in fortyllan to seduce); akin to L dolus trick, Gk dólos bait (for fish), any cunning contrivance, treachery ]
till 4
/til/ , n.
1. Geol. glacial drift consisting of an unassorted mixure of clay, sand, gravel, and boulders.
2. a stiff clay.
[ 1665-75; orig. uncert. ]