Definition of: quill

(kwil) noun
1. Ornithol. One of the large, strong flight feathers or tail feathers of a bird.
2. A pen made from a feather; hence, any pen.
3. The hollow, horny stem of a feather; a calamus.
4. Such a stem used for a receptacle or measure, as for a drug, or as a plectrum for playing a stringed instrument.
5. Zool. One of the large, sharp spines of a porcupine or hedgehog.
6. A piece of cane or reed used as a musical pipe.
7. A slow–burning fuse made formerly of the quill of a feather filled with powder.
8. A piece of bark rolled into cylindrical form: a cinnamon quill.
9. A quill toothpick.
10. Mech. A hollow shaft, with or without openings, designed to revolve on a solid shaft when the clutches are engaged.
11. In weaving, a spindle or bobbin; pirn.
12. A fluted, rounded ridge, or cylindrical fold, as in a ruff or ruffle.
—v.t.
1. To make or iron (a garment or fabric) with rounded plaits or ridges.
2. To wind (thread or yarn) on a quill or quills.
—v.i.
3. To wind thread or yarn on a quill or quills. [Cf. LG quiele a quill of a feather]