PILLOW

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does pillow mean? 

• PILLOW (noun)
  The noun PILLOW has 1 sense:

1. a cushion to support the head of a sleeping person

  Familiarity information: PILLOW used as a noun is very rare.

• PILLOW (verb)
  The verb PILLOW has 1 sense:

1. rest on or as if on a pillow

  Familiarity information: PILLOW used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PILLOW (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A cushion to support the head of a sleeping person

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

cushion (a soft bag filled with air or a mass of padding such as feathers or foam rubber etc.)

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

bed pillow (a soft pillow for use on a bed)

bolster; long pillow (a pillow that is often put across a bed underneath the regular pillows)

Derivation:

pillow (rest on or as if on a pillow)

• PILLOW (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they pillow    ... he / she / it pillows   
Past simple: pillowed   
Past participle: pillowed   
-ing form: pillowing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Rest on or as if on a pillow

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

pillow; rest

Context example:

pillow your head

Hypernyms (to "pillow" is one way to...):

lay; place; pose; position; put; set (put into a certain place or abstract location)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

pillow (a cushion to support the head of a sleeping person)

 Context examples 

Jonathan woke a little after the hour, and all was ready, and he sat up in bed, propped up with pillows.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

So I tucked a blanket and pillow under my arm and went up on deck.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Jo put her hand in his as he said that, and Laurie gently smoothed the little red pillow, which he remembered well.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Cut open the dead bird, take out its heart and keep it, and you will find a piece of gold under your pillow every morning when you rise.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Between us, with much trouble, we managed to hoist him upstairs, and laid him on his bed, where his head fell back on the pillow as if he were almost fainting.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The stranger thrust a physician's small travelling case under his blankets at one end to serve for a pillow.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Then I took my watch from under the pillow.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I lay my face upon the pillow by her, and she looks into my eyes, and speaks very softly.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I rested my head against a pillow or an arm, and felt easy.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and threw himself down with his face to the pillow.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)