noun
pill
pihl
noun
1
A small solid tablet of medicine meant to be swallowed.
"She takes a pill every morning to manage her blood pressure."
"The doctor prescribed a two-week course of pills for the infection."
2
Short for "the pill" — an oral contraceptive.
"She's been on the pill for years."
3
Informally, an annoying or unpleasant person.
"Stop being such a pill about the schedule change."
How to Use Pill
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA tablet of medicine, the contraceptive pill, or (informally) an annoying person.
Common mistake
"A bitter pill to swallow" is an idiom for accepting bad news, not a literal medicine reference.
Common pairings
take a pill
go on the pill
a bitter pill to swallow
Word Forms
pilled past tense, pilled past tense, pills plural, pills plural, pills plural, pills singular, pills singular
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She takes a _____ every morning to manage her blood pressure.
Etymology
From Middle English pille, ultimately from Latin pila/pilula, "little ball."