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Definition quill

Etymology

From Middle English quil, which is first attested in the early 15th century with the meanings "fragment of reed" and "shaft of a feather". Cognate to (and probably derived from) Low German quiele (compare Middle High German kil (“large feather, quill”), which is derived from the Low German term), further etymology is unknown.

The "porcupine spike" meaning was first attested in the early 17th century.

Noun

quill (plural quills)

1. The lower shaft of a feather, specifically the region lacking barbs.
2. A pen made from a feather.
3. (figuratively) Any pen.
4. A sharply pointed, barbed, and easily detached needle-like structure that grows on the skin of a porcupine or hedgehog as a defense against predators.
5. A thin piece of bark, especially of cinnamon or cinchona, curled up into a tube.
6. The pen of a squid.
7. (music) The plectrum with which musicians strike the strings of certain instruments.
8. (music) The tube of a musical instrument.
9. Something having the form of a quill, such as the fold or plain of a ruff, or (weaving) a spindle, or spool, upon which the thread for the woof is wound in a shuttle.

Verb

quill (third-person singular simple present quills, present participle quilling, simple past and past participle quilled)

1. To pierce or be pierced with quills.
2. (figuratively) To write.
3. To form fabric into small, rounded folds.
4. To decorate with quillwork.
5. (US and Canada, especially Appalachia and the Prairies, transitive) To subject (a woman who is giving birth) to the practice of quilling (blowing pepper into her nose to induce or hasten labor).

Results 123 Words with the letters QUILL

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