Search the Dictionary

Webster’s Dictionary (1828)

98,828 entries. Headwords are matched first, then definition text.

8,784 words match “ILL”

SHILL-I-SHALL-I; SHILLY-SHALLY adv.

omewhat dainty in making a resolution, because when I make it, I keep it; I don't stand shill-I-shall-I then; if I say 't, I'll do 't. Congreve.

SHILLALAH; SHILLELAH n.

An oaken sapling or cudgel; any cudgel; -- so called from Shillelagh, a place in Ireland of that name famous for its oaks. [Irish] [Written also shillaly, and shillely.]

SHILLING n. 3 definitions

The Spanish real, of the value of one eight of a dollar, or 12 York shilling. Same as Shilling, 3.

SHILLY-SHALLY n. 2 definitions

ith trifles. She lost not one of her forty-five minutes in picking and choosing, - - no shilly-shally in Kate. De Quincey.

ceps rex) allied to the storks and herons, and remarkable for its enormous broad swollen bill. It inhabits the valley of the White Nile. See Illust. (l.) of Beak.

SHRILL a. 4 definitions

, piercing tone or sound; -- said a sound, or of that which produces a sound. Hear the shrill whistle which doth order give To sounds confused. Shak. Let winds be shrill, let waves roll high. Byron.

SHRILL-GORGED a.

Having a throat which produces a shrill note. [R.] Shak.

SHRILL-TONGUED a.

Having a shrill voice. "When shrill-tongued Fulvia scolds." Shak.

The quality or state of being shrill.

SHRILLY adv. 2 definitions

In a shrill manner; acutely; with a sharp sound or voice.

SICKLEBILL n. 3 definitions

nus Eutoxeres, native of Central and South America. They have a long and strongly curved bill. Called also the sickle-billed hummer.

The side or slope of a hill; sloping ground; a descent. [U. S.]

SIGILLARIA n. 2 definitions

Little images or figures of earthenware exposed for sale, or given as presents, on the last two days of the Saturnalia; hence, the last two, or the sixth and seventh, days of the Saturnalia.

One of an extinct family of cryptagamous trees, including the genus Sigillaria and its allies.

Decorated by means of stamps; -- said of pottery.

Fit to seal; belonging to a seal; composed of wax. [R.]

SILL n. 7 definitions

, as a timber, which forms the lower member of a frame, or supports a structure; as, the sills of a house, of a bridge, of a loom, and the like. Hence:

A dish made by mixing wine or cider with milk, and thus forming a soft curd; also, sweetened cream, flavored with wine and beaten to a stiff froth. [Written also syllabub.]