pill

pill

I

pill¹ S3 /pɪl/ noun
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
     

COLLOCATIONS

■ verbs
   ▪ 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.
■ NOUN + pill
   ▪ 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)
     

THESAURUS

   ▪ 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.

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