quill

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quill

 (kwĭl)
n.
1. The hollow stemlike main shaft of a feather. Also called calamus.
2. Any of the larger wing or tail feathers of a bird.
3. A writing pen made from the shaft of a feather.
4. Music
a. A plectrum for a stringed instrument of the clavichord type.
b. A pipe having a hollow stem.
5. A toothpick made from the stem of a feather.
6. One of the sharp hollow spines of a porcupine or hedgehog.
7. A spindle or bobbin around which yarn is wound in weaving.
8. A hollow shaft that rotates on a solid shaft when gears are engaged.
v. quilled, quill·ing, quills
v.tr.
1. To wind (thread or yarn) onto a quill.
2. To make or press small ridges in (fabric).
v.intr.
To practice the art or craft of quilling.

[Middle English quil.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

quill

(kwɪl)
n
1. (Zoology)
a. any of the large stiff feathers of the wing or tail of a bird
b. the long hollow central part of a bird's feather; calamus
2. a bird's feather made into a pen for writing
3. (Zoology) any of the stiff hollow spines of a porcupine or hedgehog
4. (Music, other) a device, formerly usually made from a crow quill, for plucking a harpsichord string
5. (Angling) angling a length of feather barb stripped of barbules and used for the body of some artificial flies
6. (Botany) a small roll of bark, esp one of dried cinnamon
7. (Textiles) (in weaving) a bobbin or spindle
8. (Clothing & Fashion) a fluted fold, as in a ruff
9. (Mechanical Engineering) a hollow shaft that rotates upon an inner spindle or concentrically about an internal shaft
vb (tr)
10. (Textiles) to wind (thread, yarn, etc) onto a spool or bobbin
11. (Clothing & Fashion) to make or press fluted folds in (a ruff)
[C15 (in the sense: hollow reed or pipe): of uncertain origin; compare Middle Low German quiele quill]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

quill

(kwɪl)

n.
1. one of the large feathers of the wing or tail of a bird.
2. the hard, hollow, basal part of a feather.
3. a feather, as of a goose, formed into a pen for writing.
4. one of the hollow spines on a porcupine or hedgehog.
5. a plectrum of a harpsichord.
6. a roll of bark, as of cinnamon, formed in drying.
7. a reed, spindle, or tube upon which filling yarn is wound for weaving.
8. Mach. a hollow shaft or sleeve through which another independently rotating shaft may pass.
v.t.
9. to arrange (fabric) in flutes or cylindrical ridges.
10. to wind on a quill, as yarn.
11. to penetrate with, or as if with, a quill or quills.
12. to extract a quill or quills from.
[1375–1425; late Middle English quil; compare Low German quiele, German Kiel]
quill′-like`, adj.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

quill

(kwĭl)
The hollow shaft of a feather, the bottom of which attaches to the bird's skin.
The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

quill

- The whistle of a steam engine.
See also related terms for whistle.
Farlex Trivia Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.

Quill

 a roll of something resembling the shape of a quill; used in the phrase in a quill, i.e., in a body, in combination, or in concert.
Examples: quill of dried bark, 1797; of cinnamon leaves; of females, 1690; of ropes, 1588.
Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

quill


Past participle: quilled
Gerund: quilling

Imperative
quill
quill
Present
I quill
you quill
he/she/it quills
we quill
you quill
they quill
Preterite
I quilled
you quilled
he/she/it quilled
we quilled
you quilled
they quilled
Present Continuous
I am quilling
you are quilling
he/she/it is quilling
we are quilling
you are quilling
they are quilling
Present Perfect
I have quilled
you have quilled
he/she/it has quilled
we have quilled
you have quilled
they have quilled
Past Continuous
I was quilling
you were quilling
he/she/it was quilling
we were quilling
you were quilling
they were quilling
Past Perfect
I had quilled
you had quilled
he/she/it had quilled
we had quilled
you had quilled
they had quilled
Future
I will quill
you will quill
he/she/it will quill
we will quill
you will quill
they will quill
Future Perfect
I will have quilled
you will have quilled
he/she/it will have quilled
we will have quilled
you will have quilled
they will have quilled
Future Continuous
I will be quilling
you will be quilling
he/she/it will be quilling
we will be quilling
you will be quilling
they will be quilling
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been quilling
you have been quilling
he/she/it has been quilling
we have been quilling
you have been quilling
they have been quilling
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been quilling
you will have been quilling
he/she/it will have been quilling
we will have been quilling
you will have been quilling
they will have been quilling
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been quilling
you had been quilling
he/she/it had been quilling
we had been quilling
you had been quilling
they had been quilling
Conditional
I would quill
you would quill
he/she/it would quill
we would quill
you would quill
they would quill
Past Conditional
I would have quilled
you would have quilled
he/she/it would have quilled
we would have quilled
you would have quilled
they would have quilled
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.quill - pen made from a bird's featherquill - pen made from a bird's feather  
pen - a writing implement with a point from which ink flows
2.quill - a stiff hollow protective spine on a porcupine or hedgehog
Erinaceus europaeus, Erinaceus europeaeus, hedgehog - small nocturnal Old World mammal covered with both hair and protective spines
spine - a sharp rigid animal process or appendage; as a porcupine quill or a ridge on a bone or a ray of a fish fin
hedgehog, porcupine - relatively large rodents with sharp erectile bristles mingled with the fur
3.quill - any of the larger wing or tail feathers of a birdquill - any of the larger wing or tail feathers of a bird
feather, plumage, plume - the light horny waterproof structure forming the external covering of birds
wing - a movable organ for flying (one of a pair)
primary feather, primary quill, primary - one of the main flight feathers projecting along the outer edge of a bird's wing
tail feather - feather growing from the tail (uropygium) of a bird
4.quill - the hollow spine of a feather
feather, plumage, plume - the light horny waterproof structure forming the external covering of birds
rib - a riblike supporting or strengthening part of an animal or plant
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
ريشَة طائِرشَوْكَةٌ من أشْواك القُنْفُذ الحادَّه
brkosten
fjerpenpig
tollszártüske
broddurfjöîurstafur
adatazoss spalva rakstīšanai
brko
dikeniri ve sert tüy

quill

[kwɪl]
A. N (= feather) → pluma f de ave; (= part of feather) → cañón m de pluma; [of porcupine, hedgehog] → púa f; (= pen) → pluma f (de ganso); (= bobbin) → canilla f
B. CPD quill pen Npluma f (de ganso)
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

quill

[ˈkwɪl] nplume f (d'oie)
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

quill

n
(= feather)Feder f; (= feather stem)Federkiel m
(also quill-pen)Federkiel m, → Feder f
(of porcupine)Stachel m
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

quill

[kwɪl] n (feather) → penna; (pen) → penna d'oca; (of porcupine) → aculeo
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

quill

(kwil) noun
1. a large feather, especially the feather of a goose, made into a pen.
2. one of the sharp spines of certain animals (eg the porcupine).
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in classic literature ?
He's different from a reg'lar porcupine, because he can throw his quills in any direction, which an American porcupine cannot do.
In his youth One Eye had once sniffed too near a similar, apparently inert ball of quills, and had the tail flick out suddenly in his face.
AN Eagle mortally wounded by an Archer was greatly comforted to observe that the arrow was feathered with one of his own quills.
One of these deputies was magnificently arrayed in a buffalo robe, on which various figures were fancifully embroidered with split quills dyed red and yellow; and the whole was fringed with the slender hoofs of young fawns, that rattled as he walked.
Each distant thicket seemed a strange porcupine with quills of flame.
At one time she would come on board with a jar of pickles for the steward's pantry; another time with a bunch of quills for the chief mate's desk, where he kept his log; a third time with a roll of flannel for the small of some one's rheumatic back.
She could smell the big bouquet of lilacs, see the pink-flounced parasol, feel the stiffness of the starched buff calico and the hated prick of the black and yellow porcupine quills. The drive was taken almost in silence, but it was a sweet, comforting silence both to uncle Jerry and the girl.
"I know it"; and the duke put the quill to the paper.
Bulstrode's eyes, which were rather fine, rolled round that ample quilled circuit, while she spoke.
I had paused to put a new point on my quill and stir the crude ink
"One would have thought quill drivers enough had sprung up," remarked the old prince.
The ear has no external leaf whatever; and into the hole itself you can hardly insert a quill, so wondrously minute is it.