RILL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does rill mean? 

• RILL (noun)
  The noun RILL has 2 senses:

1. a small stream

2. a small channel (as one formed by soil erosion)

  Familiarity information: RILL used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RILL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A small stream

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

rill; rivulet; run; runnel; streamlet

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

stream; watercourse (a natural body of running water flowing on or under the earth)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A small channel (as one formed by soil erosion)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

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

channel (a deep and relatively narrow body of water (as in a river or a harbor or a strait linking two larger bodies) that allows the best passage for vessels)

 Context examples 

Fortunately, Mr. Bhaer considered her the most beautiful woman living, and she found him more Jove-like than ever, though his hatbrim was quite limp with the little rills trickling thence upon his shoulders (for he held the umbrella all over Jo), and every finger of his gloves needed mending.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I discerned in the course of the morning that Thornfield Hall was a changed place: no longer silent as a church, it echoed every hour or two to a knock at the door, or a clang of the bell; steps, too, often traversed the hall, and new voices spoke in different keys below; a rill from the outer world was flowing through it; it had a master: for my part, I liked it better.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)