pills

Noun

pill (plural pills)

1. (broadly) A small, usually round or cylindrical object designed for easy swallowing, usually containing some sort of medication.
   • Take two pills every hour in the apyrexia of intermittent fever, until eight are taken.1864, Benjamin Ellis, The Medical Formulary
   1. (broadly, 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).
2. (definite, informal, uncountable, 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.
3. Something offensive, unpleasant or nauseous which must be accepted or endured.
   • "It's a sad unpalatable truth," said Mr. Pembroke, thinking that the despondency might be personal, "but one must accept it. My sister and Gerald, I am thankful to say, have accepted it, so naturally it has been a little pill."1907, E.M. Forster, The Longest Journey, Part I, III [Uniform ed., p. 45]
4. (slang) A contemptible, annoying, or unpleasant person.
   • You see, he's egging Phyllis on to marry Wilbert Cream. [...] And when a man like that eggs, something has to give, especially when the girl's a pill like Phyllis, who always does what Daddy tells her.1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter IV
5. (slang) A comical or entertaining person.

See all 25 meanings of pill