pill
[noun]
Synonyms:
- tablet, capsule, pellet
- the pill: oral contraceptive

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Related Words: narcotic, soporific

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English Thesaurus: medicine, pill, tablet, antibiotics/aspirin/codeine etc, capsule, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. pill¹ S3 /pɪl/ noun
[Date: 1400-1500; Language: Latin; Origin: pilula, from pila 'ball']

1. [countable] a small solid piece of medicine that you swallow whole:
He has to take pills to control his blood pressure.
sleeping pills
a bottle of vitamin pills

2. the Pill/the pill a pill taken regularly by some women in order to prevent them having babies
on the Pill
My doctor advised me to go on the pill (=start taking it regularly).

3. sugar/sweeten the pill to do something to make an unpleasant job or situation less unpleasant for the person who has to accept it

4. be a pill American English informal if someone, especially a child, is a pill, they are annoying:
Luke can be a real pill sometimes.
⇒ a bitter pill (to swallow) at bitter¹(7), ⇒ morning-after pill

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. pill² verb [intransitive] American English
if a piece of clothing pills, especially a sweater, it forms little balls on the surface of the cloth after it has been worn or washed

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

pill
noun
I. small round flat piece of medicine
ADJ. diet, sleeping, vitamin
QUANT. bottle
VERB + PILL pop, swallow, take | give sb, prescribe (sb) The doctor prescribed her some pills to help her sleep.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

pill
II. the pill: to avoid becoming pregnant
ADJ. contraceptive
VERB + PILL be on, go on, use | prescribe (sb), put sb on Her doctor put her on the pill at 16.
come off, stop

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

pill

take a pill (=use it by swallowing it)
Have you taken your pills?
swallow a pill
He swallowed a handful of pills.
pop a pill informal (=take one too easily, without thinking about it seriously)
Some people just pop a pill to get a good night's sleep.
a doctor prescribes pills (=tells someone to take them)
Her doctor just prescribed more pills and told her to take it easy.
a sleeping pill
I took a sleeping pill and tried to go back to sleep.
malaria pills (=pills that prevent malaria)
vitamin pills
diet pills (=pills that are said to help you become thinner)

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

medicine noun [uncountable and countable] a substance used for treating illness:
Certain medicines should not be taken with alcohol.
Has he taken his medicine?
pill noun [countable] a small piece of medicine that you swallow:
She managed to swallow the pill with a sip of water.
The doctor gave him some pills.
sleeping pills
diet pills
contraceptive pills
tablet noun [countable] especially British English a small piece of solid medicine:
She's now on four tablets a day.
a five-day course of tablets
sleeping tablets
anti-malaria tablets
antibiotics/aspirin/codeine etc:
The doctor put him on a course of antibiotics.
Why don’t you take some aspirin?
The tablets contain codeine, which is unsuitable for people with asthma.
capsule noun [countable] a small tube-shaped container with medicine inside that you swallow whole:
a bottle of 500 capsules of vitamin C
I advised her to take four to six garlic capsules a day for the duration of the treatment.
caplet noun [countable] a small smooth pill that is slightly longer than it is wide - used especially on bottles and containers:
In small type, the consumer is warned not to take more than one caplet per day.
eye/ear drops liquid medicine that you put into your eye or ear:
Remember — if you 're using eye drops for your hay fever, leave your contact lenses out.
cream noun [uncountable and countable] especially British English (also lotion especially American English) a thick smooth substance containing medicine, that you put on your skin:
an antibiotic cream
antiseptic cream
skin cream
drug noun [countable] a medicine or a substance for making medicines:
a drug used to treat malaria
There are a wide range of different drugs on the market.
dosage noun [countable usually singular] the amount of medicine that you should take at one time:
The dosage should be reduced to 0.5 mg.
It’s important to get the dosage right.
medication noun [uncountable and countable] medicine or drugs given to someone who is ill:
He takes medication for his diabetes.
She’s on medication (=taking medication), having suffered from depression for a number of years.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

pill
̈ɪpɪl
See: bitter pill

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲