quill

Definitions

1. 1.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. Sir H. Wotton.
2. 2.(Zoöl.) (a) A spine of the hedgehog or porcupine. (b) The pen of a squid. See Pen.
3. 3.(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. Milton.
4. 4.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. 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. Simmonds.
5. 5.To plaint in small cylindrical ridges, called quillings; as, to quill a ruffle. His cravat seemed quilled into a ruff. Goldsmith.
6. 6.To wind on a quill, as thread or yarn. Judd.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Related questions

• What does "quill" mean?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is quill.

• What is 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. Sir H. Wotton called?
• What is (a) A spine of the hedgehog or porcupine. (b) The pen of a squid. See Pen called?
• What is (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. Milton called?
• What is to plaint in small cylindrical ridges, called quillings; as, to quill a ruffle. His cravat seemed quilled into a ruff. Goldsmith called?
• What is to wind on a quill, as thread or yarn. Judd called?