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Glite Dictionary
🧶 Fabric fuzz balls 💊 Making pills
pilling

pilling

1 5.5
Small balls of loose fiber that form on clothing when it rubs against another surface
  • noun
  • /ˈpɪlɪŋ/
: formación de bolitas
  • She quickly removed the pilling from her favorite sweater using a fabric shaver.
  • pilling sweater
  • pilling after months
  • resists pilling

Examples

  • It's literally Pilling up like it was just a no.

  • OK, so the foundation is Pilling quite a bit.

  • Oh no, Oh no, it's Pilling again, gosh darn it.

  • I also wash towels on their own, and that keeps my clothes from pilling.

    Blog text (5)

  • It's also water based, which means it layers well with skin care and makeup, so Pilling really isn't an issue.

  • Detergent makers now add enzymes to reduce pilling, but there is a risk of fading the color and weakening the fabric.

    Academic text (1997)

  • The sweater began to show signs of pilling after several washes, making it look worn out.

  • To maintain its appearance, avoid using rough laundry cycles to prevent pilling on delicate fabrics.

Synonyms

fuzzing
vspilling
1 6.9

Small soft fibers that appear on cloth after washing or wearing

forms small compact balls on the surface from friction rather than loose fibers

How Worn

wear
53 4.3
pilling
1 5.5
newness
11 1.9

Surface Forms

pilling singular
pillings plural

Morphology

pilling = pill (transparent) = pill + ing

The noun is transparently formed from the verb 'pill' plus the action/result noun suffix '-ing'.

Etymology

Pilling comes from the small pill meaning 'small ball' of fiber that forms on cloth when it is rubbed, so pilling means the appearance of those tiny balls on a sweater.