Quill
Definition, Meaning & Examples
Pronunciation /kwɪl/ · Part of speech noun
Quick meaning: Quill is a noun meaning The lower shaft of a feather, specifically the region lacking barbs.
Meaning
The lower shaft of a feather, specifically the region lacking barbs.
More Meanings
- A pen made from a feather.
- (by extension) Any pen.
- A thin piece of bark, especially of cinnamon or cinchona, curled up into a tube.
- (zoology) The pen of a squid.
- (music) The plectrum with which musicians strike the strings of certain instruments.
- (music) The tube of a musical instrument.
- A sharply pointed, barbed, and easily detached needle-like structure that grows on the skin of a porcupine or hedgehog as a defense against predators.
Example Sentences
He picked up his quill and wrote a poem.
He touched the tender stops of various quills.
His hair still stood up in punk-rock quills and spikes.
Coyotes, bears, and mountain lions which occasionally kill porcupines are sometimes quilled.
Word Forms
- quills
- quilling
- quilled
Synonyms for quill
Depending on context, synonyms include calamus, pinion, shaft.
Related Words
Related dictionary entries include pinion, calamus, shaft, plume, feather, porcupine.
Related Dictionary Tools
Sources & Attribution
FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.