PILL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does pill mean? 

• PILL (noun)
  The noun PILL has 5 senses:

1. something that resembles a tablet of medicine in shape or size

2. a dose of medicine in the form of a small pellet

3. a unpleasant or tiresome person

4. something unpleasant or offensive that must be tolerated or endured

5. a contraceptive in the form of a pill containing estrogen and progestin to inhibit ovulation and so prevent conception

  Familiarity information: PILL used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PILL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Something that resembles a tablet of medicine in shape or size

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("pill" is a kind of...):

thing (an artifact)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "pill"):

vitamin pill (a pill containing one or more vitamins; taken as a dietary supplement)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A dose of medicine in the form of a small pellet

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

lozenge; pill; tab; tablet

Hypernyms ("pill" is a kind of...):

dosage; dose (a measured portion of medicine taken at any one time)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "pill"):

capsule (a pill in the form of a small rounded gelatinous container with medicine inside)

dragee (pill that is a sugar-coated medicated candy)

sleeping capsule; sleeping draught; sleeping pill; sleeping tablet (a soporific drug in the form of a pill (or tablet or capsule))

bolus (a large pill; used especially in veterinary medicine)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A unpleasant or tiresome person

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("pill" is a kind of...):

disagreeable person; unpleasant person (a person who is not pleasant or agreeable)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Something unpleasant or offensive that must be tolerated or endured

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

his competitor's success was a bitter pill to take

Hypernyms ("pill" is a kind of...):

burden; encumbrance; incumbrance; load; onus (an onerous or difficult concern)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A contraceptive in the form of a pill containing estrogen and progestin to inhibit ovulation and so prevent conception

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

anovulant; anovulatory drug; birth control pill; contraceptive pill; oral contraceptive; oral contraceptive pill; pill

Hypernyms ("pill" is a kind of...):

birth control device; contraceptive; contraceptive device; preventative; preventive; prophylactic device (an agent or device intended to prevent conception)

Meronyms (substance of "pill"):

Lipo-Lutin; progesterone (a steroid hormone (trade name Lipo-Lutin) produced in the ovary; prepares and maintains the uterus for pregnancy)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "pill"):

Ovulen (trade name for an oral contraceptive containing mestranol and a progestin compound)

Ovrette (trade name for an oral contraceptive containing norgestrel)

Ovral (trade name for an oral contraceptive containing estradiol and norgestrel)

Ovocon (trade name for an oral contraceptive containing estradiol and norethindrone)

Nor-Q-D (trade name for an oral contraceptive containing norethindrone)

Norlestrin (trade name for an oral contraceptive containing estradiol and norethindrone)

Norinyl (trade name for an oral contraceptive containing norethindrone and mestranol)

Modicon (trade name for an oral contraceptive containing estradiol and norethindrone)

Micronor (trade name for and oral contraceptive containing the progestin compound norethindrone)

Lo/Ovral (trade name for an oral contraceptive containing estradiol and norgestrel)

Loestrin (trade name for an oral contraceptive containing estradiol and norethindrone)

Enovid (trade name for an oral contraceptive containing mestranol and norethynodrel)

Demulen (trade name for an oral contraceptive)

 Context examples 

Some people take pills and insulin.

(Diabetes Medicines, NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)

You will need to take hormone pills for the rest of your life.

(Addison Disease, NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)

They call to health Institutions to prescribe physical activity as a pill against cognitive frailty-related mortality.

(Engaging in physical activity could reduce long-term mortality, University of Granada)

A pill used to prevent pregnancy.

(Birth control pill, NCI Dictionary)

For many men, the answer is as simple as taking a pill.

(Erectile Dysfunction, NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)

They are sometimes called water pills.

(Diuretic, NCI Dictionary)

It may be used by the body more easily than the pill form.

(Fenretinide Lipid Matrix, NCI Dictionary)

The medicine may come as a pill, a liquid, or a patch.

(Overactive Bladder, NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)

EXAMPLE(S): StudySubject receives a bottle of pills.

(Performed Study Agent Transfer, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)

The magnificent present was the coating of a pill, a bitter pill.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)