QUILL

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does quill mean? 

• QUILL (noun)
  The noun QUILL has 4 senses:

1. pen made from a bird's feather

2. a stiff hollow protective spine on a porcupine or hedgehog

3. any of the larger wing or tail feathers of a bird

4. the hollow spine of a feather

  Familiarity information: QUILL used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• QUILL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Pen made from a bird's feather

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

quill; quill pen

Hypernyms ("quill" is a kind of...):

pen (a writing implement with a point from which ink flows)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A stiff hollow protective spine on a porcupine or hedgehog

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("quill" is a kind of...):

spine (a sharp rigid animal process or appendage; as a porcupine quill or a ridge on a bone or a ray of a fish fin)

Holonyms ("quill" is a part of...):

Erinaceus europaeus; Erinaceus europeaeus; hedgehog (small nocturnal Old World mammal covered with both hair and protective spines)

hedgehog; porcupine (relatively large rodents with sharp erectile bristles mingled with the fur)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Any of the larger wing or tail feathers of a bird

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

flight feather; pinion; quill; quill feather

Hypernyms ("quill" is a kind of...):

feather; plumage; plume (the light horny waterproof structure forming the external covering of birds)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "quill"):

primary; primary feather; primary quill (one of the main flight feathers projecting along the outer edge of a bird's wing)

tail feather (feather growing from the tail (uropygium) of a bird)

Holonyms ("quill" is a part of...):

wing (a movable organ for flying (one of a pair))

Sense 4

Meaning:

The hollow spine of a feather

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

calamus; quill; shaft

Hypernyms ("quill" is a kind of...):

rib (a riblike supporting or strengthening part of an animal or plant)

Holonyms ("quill" is a part of...):

feather; plumage; plume (the light horny waterproof structure forming the external covering of birds)

 Context examples 

She was crouching as he had crouched once that day, in front of her the tight-rolled ball of quills.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

It was but for one minute that I saw him, but the hair stood upon my head like quills.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

I rejoice, however, to perceive that he wrote with a broad-pointed quill pen, and I can hardly doubt that we will find some impression upon this blotting-pad.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Accordingly, it was locked up in his box, and drawn off by himself in a phial, and administered to me through a piece of quill in the cork, when I was supposed to be in want of a restorative.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink upon the outer side of his right little finger, remarked Holmes as he folded up the epistle.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

One quill he had carried away in his muzzle, where it had remained for weeks, a rankling flame, until it finally worked out.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

In a little while, One Eye noticed that the quills were drooping and that a great quivering had set up.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Then all the quills drooped quite down, and the body relaxed and moved no more.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

In his youth One Eye had once sniffed too near a similar, apparently inert ball of quills, and had the tail flick out suddenly in his face.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Then she fell to backing away and sneezing, her nose bristling with quills like a monstrous pin-cushion.

(White Fang, by Jack London)