quill
1
5.3
- noun
- /kwɪl/
:
pluma
- I made the tiny quills from feathers and the candles out of Fimo.
- feather quill
- quill of a plume
- made of quills
And like a massive quill, a huge, huge feathered quill, yes.
- And like a massive quill, a huge, huge feathered quill, yes.
Examples
-
The raven feather was many-textured, smooth as silk, then fractured and rough and deep, black to blue from the quill outward.
Fiction book (1997) -
And like a massive quill, a huge, huge feathered quill, yes.
-
Your duck might not have any quills.
Blog text (5) -
He explained that one held the tools of his trade: inkhorn, quills, and papers.
Fiction book (1991) -
With my thumbnail, I pushed back the gummy flesh around the quills of the tail feathers and began at one side to pluck out all the long plumes.
Academic text (1992) -
The author dipped the quill into the ink and began to write on the parchment.
-
In the museum, there was a display of ancient quills used by scholars centuries ago.
-
He admired the intricate design of the quill as he prepared to use it for his letter.
Synonyms
403
1.0
A light flat part of a bird with a thin middle and many thin hair-like parts
55
4.2
A long straight middle part of things like an arrow or tool handle
4
2.4
A feather that grows on a bird's tail
1
8.2
Large outer wing feathers that birds use to fly
1
4.5
A large stiff feather on a bird's wing or tail that helps it fly
A long stiff part of a bird's wing once used for writing
A long outer flight feather on a bird's wing that helps it fly
A feather on the inner wing near the bird's body
A long feather on the inner part of a bird's wing near the body
A long curved tail feather on a rooster that looks decorative
A long narrow feather on the back of a chicken near its tail
The hollow base of a feather that holds it in the bird's skin
Compounds
- Archaic
An old-fashioned name for a person who writes for a living, often doing simple forms
How Big
Surface Forms
Etymology
Quill first meant the hollow central part of a bird 'feather', the hard shaft you can hold. You can see this in quill pen, because writers used that hollow shaft to hold ink, so quill now also means the shaft or a large stiff feather.