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Quill   /kwɪl/   Listen
noun
Quill  n.  
1.
One of the large feathers of a bird's wing, or one of the rectrices of the tail; also, the stock of such a feather.
2.
A pen for writing made by sharpening and splitting the point or nib of the stock of a feather; as, history is the proper subject of his quill.
3.
(Zool.)
(a)
A spine of the hedgehog or porcupine.
(b)
The pen of a squid. See Pen.
4.
(Mus.)
(a)
The plectrum with which musicians strike the strings of certain instruments.
(b)
The tube of a musical instrument. "He touched the tender stops of various quills."
5.
Something having the form of a quill; as:
(a)
The fold or plain of a ruff.
(b)
(Weaving) A spindle, or spool, as of reed or wood, upon which the thread for the woof is wound in a shuttle.
(c)
(Mach.) A hollow spindle.
6.
(Pharm.) A roll of dried bark; as, a quill of cinnamon or of cinchona.
Quill bit, a bit for boring resembling the half of a reed split lengthways and having its end sharpened like a gouge.
Quill driver, one who works with a pen; a writer; a clerk. (Jocose)
Quill nib, a small quill pen made to be used with a holder.



verb
Quill  v. t.  (past & past part. quilled; pres. part. quilling)  
1.
To plaint in small cylindrical ridges, called quillings; as, to quill a ruffle. "His cravat seemed quilled into a ruff."
2.
To wind on a quill, as thread or yarn.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Quill" Quotes from Famous Books



... fairer complexion than the generality of Indians. The women have two double lines of black or blue colour upon each cheek, from the ear to the nose; and the gristle of the nose is perforated, so as to admit a goose-quill, or a small piece of wood to be passed through it. The clothing of these Indians is made of the dressed skins of the rein or moose-deer. Some of them, says Mr. Mackenzie, were decorated with a neat embroidery of porcupine-quills ...
— Travels in North America, From Modern Writers • William Bingley

... shuddering father, "How she loves my child; they all love her," but the thought made little impression at the time; the mind was too full of terror and woe. The doctor now asked for brandy in a whisper. Mrs. Dodd left the room with stealthy foot, and brought it. He asked for a quill. Julia went with swift, stealthy foot, and brought it. With adroit and tender hands they aided the doctor, and trickled stimulants down her throat. Then sat like statues of grief about the bed; only every now and then eye sought eye, and endeavoured to read what the other thought. Was there ...
— Hard Cash • Charles Reade

... he was interrupted more than once by a sotto voce observation from his then clerk, who was very impatient when the luncheon hour drew near. Accustomed to this interruption, the sheriff, as a rule, took no notice of them. On this occasion, however, he threw down his quill with a show of annoyance, leaned back in his chair, and addressed the interrupter thus: "I say, Mr. ——, are you, or am I, sheriff here?" Promptly came the unabashed reply: "You, of course; but ...
— Law and Laughter • George Alexander Morton

... Presently the folding-doors are to be shut, the ladies are to descend from their chambers, the bar will be kept appropriated to our house, the male part of the company will get into good humour, dinner will be ready, and then I must lay aside the grey goose-quill. As a preliminary to these promised comforts, the servant is mopping the hearth, which is composed (like a tesselated pavement) of little bricks about two inches long by half an inch wide, set within a broad black stone frame. The fuel is of fire-balls, ...
— Selected English Letters (XV - XIX Centuries) • Various

... quill-drivers,' he said contemptuously; 'but as Renan remarked to me, there is one thing to be said for a government of that sort, "Ils ne font pas la guerre." And so long as they don't run France into adventures, and a man can keep a roof over his head and a sou in his ...
— Robert Elsmere • Mrs. Humphry Ward


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