Pill — Defs

01 n. The peel or skin.

1.
The peel or skin.[Obs.]

02 v. i. To be peeled; to peel off in flakes.

1.
To be peeled; to peel off in flakes.

03 v. t. To deprive of hair; to make bald.

1.
To deprive of hair; to make bald.[Obs.]
2.
To peel; to make by removing the skin.
“[Jacob] pilled white streaks . . . in the rods.” — Gen. xxx. 37.

04 v. t. & i. To rob; to plunder; to pillage; to peel. See Peel, to plunder.

imp. & p. p. Pilled; p. pr. & vb. n. Pilling

1.
To rob; to plunder; to pillage; to peel. See Peel, to plunder.[Obs.] See: Peel
“Pillers and robbers were come in to the field to pill and to rob.” — Sir T. Malroy.

05 n. A medicine in the form of a little ball, or small round mass, to be swallowed whole.

1.
A medicine in the form of a little ball, or small round mass, to be swallowed whole.
2.
Figuratively, something offensive or nauseous which must be accepted or endured.

Phrases & compounds

Pill beetle — any small beetle of the genus Byrrhus, having a rounded body, with the head concealed beneath the thorax.

Pill bug — any terrestrial isopod of the genus Armadillo, having the habit of rolling itself into a ball when disturbed. Called also pill wood louse.