quill

UK: /ˈkwɪl/ US: /kwɪl/ ,(kwil)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

quill /kwɪl/   n. [countable]

1. Birds one of the large feathers of the wing or tail of a bird.
2. Birds the hard, hollow part at the base of a feather.
3. Birds a feather, as that of a goose, used as a pen for writing.
4. Zoology one of the hollow spines on a porcupine or hedgehog.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

quill  (kwil), n. 

1. Birds one of the large feathers of the wing or tail of a bird.
2. Birds the hard, hollow, basal part of a feather. See illus. under feather. 
3. Birds a feather, as of a goose, formed into a pen for writing.
4. Zoology one of the hollow spines on a porcupine or hedgehog.
5. Music and Dance a plectrum of a harpsichord.
6. a roll of bark, as of cinnamon, formed in drying.
7. Textiles a reed or other hollow stem on which yarn is wound.
8. Textiles a bobbin or spool.
9. a toothpick.
10. [Mach.]
    • Mechanical Engineering a hollow shaft or sleeve through which another independently rotating shaft may pass.
    • Mechanical Engineering a shaft, joined to and supported by two other shafts or machines, for transmitting motion from one to the other.
    • Mechanical Engineering a rotating toolholder used in boring or facing internal angles.
11. a musical pipe, esp. one made from a hollow reed.

v.t. 

12. Textiles
    • to arrange (fabric) in flutes or cylindrical ridges, as along the edge of a garment, hem, etc.
    • Textiles to wind on a quill, as yarn.
13. to penetrate with, or as if with, a quill or quills.
14. to extract a quill or quills from:
    to quill a duck before cooking it.

• 1375–1425; late Middle English quil; compare Low German quiele, German Kiel

quill′-like′, adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

quill / kwɪl/ noun

1. any of the large stiff feathers of the wing or tail of a bird
2. the long hollow central part of a bird's feather; calamus
3. a bird's feather made into a pen for writing
4. any of the stiff hollow spines of a porcupine or hedgehog
5. a device, formerly usually made from a crow quill, for plucking a harpsichord string
6. a small roll of bark, esp one of dried cinnamon
7. (in weaving) a bobbin or spindle
8. a fluted fold, as in a ruff

verb (transitive)

1. to wind (thread, yarn, etc) onto a spool or bobbin
2. to make or press fluted folds in (a ruff)

Etymology: 15th Century (in the sense: hollow reed or pipe): of uncertain origin; compare Middle Low German quiele quill