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pill

pill

786 1.0
A small round tablet of medicine that you swallow
  • noun
  • /pɪl/
translation icon : pastilla
  • The costs for a yearly cycle of pills average about $20 per user.
  • take pills
  • birth control pills
  • contraceptive pill

But I mean, you know, pills, opioids, heroin.

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Examples

  • The possibility of using birth control pills as morning-after pills is well known to American doctors.

    Academic text (1996)
  • That's why I take these pills from this doctor I met in Oklahoma.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • But it's still a small pill there.

  • It's cheap, it's a pill, a lot of people are doing it.

  • This pill, in my opinion, is more than a pill for COVID.

  • Do you need a pill?

  • In the early 1960s, the birth control pill became widely available.

    Academic text (1999)
  • We'll add some sleeping pills to the regimen.

  • Take these pills just before you go to bed, I'm sure you're not going to have any trouble at all.

  • I always keep a pill in my bag in case I get a headache.

Synonyms

tablet
vspill
53 2.5

A small solid pill you swallow for medicine

is the general everyday word for that small swallowed medicine form
sleeping pill
vspill
45 2.9

A tablet you take to help you fall asleep

is the simple category name for small swallowed medicinal forms, including this use
birth control pill
vspill
  • Specialized
33 2.7

A small medicine tablet with hormones a woman takes to prevent pregnancy

is the neutral general term for any small swallowed medicine, including these
pain pill
vspill
  • US
15 1.1

A tablet you take to make body pain less

is the broad name for any small swallowed medicinal dose, including pain relievers
tab
vspill
  • US
7 4.0

A small solid piece of medicine to swallow

is the broad common term covering that small swallowed oral dose
abortion pill
vspill
  • Specialized
4 4.9

A drug taken to end an early pregnancy without surgery

is the general name for small swallowed medicine forms that can include such drugs
oral contraceptive
vspill
  • Specialized
4 3.6

A pill women take to prevent pregnancy by stopping the release of an egg

is the common physical form name that can cover such hormonal medicines
vitamin pill
vspill
2 1.6

A small pill taken to give your body extra vitamins for health

is the wider everyday term for small oral medicinal or supplement doses
2 3.5

A small pill you take to stop pregnancy

is the general small swallowed medicine form that can include hormonal types
caplet
vspill
1 3.5

A small smooth pill shaped like a capsule that is easy to swallow

is the wider category term for small swallowable medicinal forms
oral contraceptive pill
vspill
  • Specialized
1 3.7

A pill taken by mouth that prevents a woman from becoming pregnant

is the simple word for the small swallowed medical form that can include it
anovulant
vspill
  • Specialized
9.7

A birth control pill that stops the release of an egg to prevent pregnancy

is the everyday term for the small swallowed dose that may be this remedy
anovulatory drug
vspill
  • Specialized
7.5

A pill that stops the release of an egg to prevent pregnancy

is the general small swallowed medicine category that can include this drug
3.0

A small pill that has many vitamins people take every day

is the general small swallowed medicine form that can include supplements

Idioms

20 6.1

A woman who takes a daily birth-control tablet to prevent pregnancy

2 6.8

An unpleasant fact or event that is hard to accept

1 6.2

Make an unpleasant thing seem easier to accept by adding something pleasant

To suddenly behave in a silly way that other people find odd

To accept a painful truth that changes what you believed

Compounds

45 2.9

A tablet you take to help you fall asleep

birth control pill
  • Specialized
33 2.7

A small medicine tablet with hormones a woman takes to prevent pregnancy

15 1.1

A tablet you take to make body pain less

A pill you take after unprotected sex to prevent pregnancy

6 1.6

A small plastic or glass container that holds pills

abortion pill
  • Specialized
4 4.9

A drug taken to end an early pregnancy without surgery

pill mill
  • NSFW
3 8.9

A clinic that illegally prescribes many pain pills for profit

poison pill
  • Jargon
3 7.9

To make it hard for another company to take control by making the company's shares less attractive

2 1.6

A small pill taken to give your body extra vitamins for health

A small pill you take to stop pregnancy

water pill
  • Specialized
1 3.4

A medicine that makes you pass more urine to remove extra water from your body

red pill
  • Jargon
1 8.6

To choose to learn an unpleasant truth about the world

A pill sold to help men have better sexual performance

1 3.7

A pill taken by mouth that prevents a woman from becoming pregnant

pep pill
  • Specialized
1 7.5

A pill that makes you more alert and less tired

pill head
  • Offensive
1 9.9

A person who often takes illegal pills to get high

A small pill that has many vitamins people take every day

horse pill
  • Informal
8.7

A very hard thing to accept or deal with

peaceful pill
  • Informal
6.8

Something that makes you feel calm when you are worried

pill pusher
  • Offensive
9.2

A person like a doctor or pharmacist who gives medicines to patients

pill pusher
  • Offensive
9.7

A person who illegally sells drugs to others

A person who prepares and gives medicines, usually a pharmacist

6.0

A small land animal that rolls into a ball when touched

Pill Hill
  • Informal
7.2

A neighborhood with many hospitals and medical clinics

pill in the pocket
  • Specialized
6.4

A way to carry medicine to take when symptoms begin

suicide pill
  • Jargon
8.2

A planned action by a company to make itself less attractive to a buyer even if it harms the company

How Small

tablet
53 2.5
pill
786 1.0
lozenge
14 5.4

Surface Forms

pill singular
pills plural

Etymology

Pill comes from an old Latin word pila meaning 'ball'. It originally meant a small round ball of medicine, which is why a pill is a small tablet you swallow.