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View synonyms for

till

1

[ til ]

preposition

  1. up to the time of; until:

    to fight till death.

  2. before (used in negative constructions):

    He did not come till today.

  3. near or at a specified time:

    till evening.

  4. Chiefly Midland, Southern, and Western U.S. before; to:

    It's ten till four on my watch.

  5. Scot. and North England.

conjunction

  1. to the time that or when; until.
  2. before (used in negative constructions).

till

2

[ til ]

verb (used with object)

  1. to labor, as by plowing or harrowing, upon (land) for the raising of crops; cultivate.
  2. to plow.

verb (used without object)

  1. to cultivate the soil.

till

3

[ til ]

noun

  1. a drawer, box, or the like, as in a shop or bank, in which money is kept.
  2. a drawer, tray, or the like, as in a cabinet or chest, for keeping valuables.
  3. an arrangement of drawers or pigeonholes, as on a desk top.

till

4

[ til ]

noun

  1. Geology. glacial drift consisting of an unassorted mixture of clay, sand, gravel, and boulders.
  2. a stiff clay.

till

1

/ ɪ /

conjunction

  1. Also (not standard)'til short for until
  2. to; towards
  3. dialect.
    in order that

    come here till I tell you

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

till

2

/ ɪ /

verb

  1. to cultivate and work (land) for the raising of crops
  2. another word for plough
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

till

3

/ ɪ /

noun

  1. a box, case, or drawer into which the money taken from customers is put, now usually part of a cash register
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

till

4

/ ɪ /

noun

  1. an unstratified glacial deposit consisting of rock fragments of various sizes. The most common is boulder clay
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

till

  1. An unstratified, unconsolidated mass of boulders, pebbles, sand, and mud deposited by the movement or melting of a glacier. The size and shape of the sediments that constitute till vary widely.
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Usage

Till is a variant of until that is acceptable at all levels of language. Until is, however, often preferred at the beginning of a sentence in formal writing: until his behaviour improves, he cannot become a member
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Confusables Note

Till1 and until are both old in the language and are interchangeable as both prepositions and conjunctions: It rained till (or until ) nearly midnight. The savannah remained brown and lifeless until (or till ) the rains began. Till is not a shortened form of until and is not spelled 'till. 'Til is usually considered a spelling error, though widely used in advertising: Open 'til ten.
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Derived Forms

  • ˈپ, noun
  • ˈپ, adjective
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Other Word Forms

  • ·پ adjective
  • ܲ·پ adjective
  • ܲ·پiԲ adjective
  • ɱ-پ adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of till1

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English (north) til “to,” from Old Norse til “to,” akin to Old English till “station, fixed point, standing-place” German Ziel “gDz”

Origin of till2

First recorded before 900; Middle English tilen, Old English tilian “to strive after, get, till”; cognate with Dutch telen “to breed, cultivate,” German zielen “to aim at”

Origin of till3

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English tylle, noun use of tylle “to draw, attract,” Old English -tyllan (in fortyllan “to seduce”); akin to Latin dolus “t,” Greek óDz “bait (for fish); any cunning contrivance; treachery”

Origin of till4

First recorded in 1665–75; origin uncertain
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Word History and Origins

Origin of till1

Old English til; related to Old Norse til to, Old High German zil goal, aim

Origin of till2

Old English tilian to try, obtain; related to Old Frisian tilia to obtain, Old Saxon پō to obtain, Old High German ō to hasten towards

Origin of till3

C15 tylle, of obscure origin

Origin of till4

C17: of unknown origin
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Idioms and Phrases

In addition to the subsequent idioms beginning with till , also see hand in the till ; until .
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

But you can still sleep till like 10 and have a good night.

From

Nor have far-left groups till now made prisoners' rights a particular issue.

From

He had long said he would make a "better" deal than the JCPOA, though up till now Iran has rejected renegotiating the agreement.

From

"I don't know when I'm beaten and at the end of the day I am in a privileged position and I respect that. I'll keep fighting till the end I will never ever give up."

From

A good boy till the end, Indy leaves the cabin only when he knows his job is done there and that Todd can no longer be saved.

From

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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