pugil

/ˈpjuːd͡ʒɪl/

pugil noun: as much as is taken up between the thumb and two first fingers; a pinch.

Noun

pugil (plural pugils)

(also, figuratively, obsolete) As much as is taken up between the thumb and two first fingers; a pinch.
- Take violets , and infuse a good pugil of them in a quart of vinegar1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “I. Century.”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William...
- Cinnamon, an ounce and a half; Rosemary flowers, six pugils […]1778, William Lewis, The new dispensatory

Note, That by Parts is to be understood a Pugil; which is no more than one does usually take up between the Thumb and the two next Fingers.1699, John Evelyn, Acetaria: A Discourse of Sallets:
This kind of success was all luck, and if a man had only a given amount for his own share, it was a shame to fritter away so much as a pugil.1989, Patrick O'Brian, The Thirteen-Gun Salute:

plural	pugils

Borrowed from Latin pugillus, pugillum (“a fistful”), akin to pugnus (“the fist”).

What does pugil mean?: Pugil means as much as is taken up between the thumb and two first fingers; a pinch.
How do you use pugil in a sentence?: Note, That by Parts is to be understood a Pugil; which is no more than one does usually take up between the Thumb and the two next Fingers.
What part of speech is pugil?: Pugil is a noun.
How do you pronounce pugil?: Pugil is pronounced /ˈpjuːd͡ʒɪl/.
What is the plural of pugil?: The plural of pugil is pugils.

Adapted from Wiktionary: pugil (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-pugil.wav.

Cite this entry: “pugil.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pugil. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.