till

alternative nonstandard 'til · alternative nonstandard til

1. Until; to, up to; as late as (a given time).

   She stayed till the very end.

   5 more examples

   I have to work till eight o'clock tonight.

   Similar sentiments will recur to everyone familiar with his writings all through them till the very end.

   1854, Prof. John Wilson, The Genius and Character of Burns, page 194

   The line was authorised on June 23, 1864, but not opened till July 11, 1881.

   1946 May and June, G. A. Sekon, “L.B.S.C.R. West Coast Section—3”, in Railway Magazine, page 148

   While the PA has not always seen eye-to-eye with US foreign policy, its survival remained, till recently, a top American priority.

   2019 March 14, Ramzy Baroud, “Chasing mirages: What are Palestinians doing to combat ‘Deal of the Century’?”, in Ma'an News, archived from the original on 30 Mar 2019

   If you thought Wytrzyszczka was a mouthful, wait till you try saying Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu.

   2024 December 4, “This place in NZ has such a long name that most people can't pronounce it”, in Times of India, archived from the original on 04 Dec 2024

2. Before (a certain time or event).

   It's twenty till two. (1:40)

   1 more example

   Is that the town-clock striking? / I think that it is to-night / My fever will reach its crisis, / There are long hours yet till light.

   1880, A. T. Fullerton, “Fever”, in Littell's Living Age, volume 147, page 578

3. dialectalobsoleteTo, up to (physically).

   They led him till his tent

   3 more examples

   She, poor bird, as all forlorn / Lean'd her breast up-till a thorn / And there sung the dolefull'st ditty, / To to hear it was great pity.

   1599, William Shakespeare (attributed), The Passionate Pilgrim

   And till the kirk she wadna gae, / nor till't she wadna ride, / Till four-and-twenty men she gat her before, / And twenty on ilka side

   1806, “Lord Wa'Yates and Auld Ingram”, in Robert Jameson, editor, Popular Ballads and Songs, volume 2

   For a king to gang an outlaw till / Is beneath his state and his dignitie.

   1838, “The Outlaw Murray”, in Walter Scott, editor, Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border

4. dialectalobsoleteTo, toward (in attitude).

   And then she changed her voice and would be as saft as honey: 'My puir wee Ailie, was I thrawn till ye? Never mind, my bonnie. You and me are a' that's left, and we maunna be ill to ither.'

   1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide

   2 more examples

   "Well, Georgey," said he, "and soa you're leaving t'ould hoose at last?" - "Heigh, Johnny, my lad, I'm forced tull it; for that damned Boggart torments us soa, we can neither rest neet nor day for't."

   1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 307

   "Here's at you old hoss!" hiccupped I, with a friendly pitch in the way of a nod at Rice. "Go it, young grampus, that's me! Here's till ye, my infant progidy!" replied he, as he clinked his glass against mine.

   1861, E. J. Guerin, Mountain Charley, page 20

5. dialectalSo that (something may happen).

   1953?, Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot VLADIMIR: Together again at last! We'll have to celebrate this. But how? (He reflects.) Get up till I embrace you.

alternative nonstandard 'til · alternative nonstandard til

1. Until, until the time that.

   Maybe you can, maybe you can't: you won't know till you try.

   3 more examples

   I charge you, O ye daughters of Ierusalem, by the Roes, and by the hindes of the field, that ye stirre not vp, nor awake my loue, till she please.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Song of Solomon 2:7

   She twirled round and round, / Till she sunk underground, […]

   1846, Edward Lear, The Book of Nonsense

   And the Mouse sat and laughed till he cried.

   1912, anonymous, Punky Dunk and the Mouse, P.F. Volland & Co.

   Synonyms: 'til, until, unto, while, whilom

plural tills

1. UKA cash register.

   I got most of the money to pay for all this by stealing. It was very wrong. Today I'm so finickity that I fired one of my staff for nicking twenty-pence worth of curtain hangers from Barkers because he couldn't be bothered to wait at the till queue.

   2005, Michael Winner, Winner Takes All, →ISBN, page 11

2. A removable box within a cash register containing the money.

   Pull all the tills and lock them in the safe.

   2 more examples

   When you've finished serving that customer could you jump off please? We need to take the till.

   That said, and I'll put this down to its newness, the bin lid was a bit snappy, like Arkwright's till (google that if you're a youngster).

   2023 July 26, Pip Dunn, “Merseyrail '777s' are OK for commuters”, in RAIL, number 988, page 59

3. The contents of a cash register, for example at the beginning or end of the day or of a cashier's shift.

   My count of my till was 30 dollars short.

4. A cash drawer in a bank, used by a teller.
5. obsoleteA tray or drawer in a chest.

present singular third person tills · participle present tilling · participle past tilled · past tilled

1. transitiveTo develop so as to improve or prepare for usage; to cultivate (said of knowledge, virtue, mind etc.).
2. transitiveTo work or cultivate or plough (soil); to prepare for growing vegetation and crops.

   Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 3:23

3. intransitiveTo cultivate soil.
4. obsoleteTo prepare; to get.

   Nor knowes a trappe nor snare to till

   1614, William Browne, The Shepherd's Pipe

1. glacial drift consisting of a mixture of clay, sand, pebbles and boulders
2. dialectalmanure or other material used to fertilize land

plural tills

1. A vetch; a tare.

plural Tills

1. A placename:
   1. uncountableA river in Northumberland, England, tributary to the Tweed.

      Tweed says to Till: "What gars ye rin sae still ?" Till says to Tweed: "Tho ye rin wi' speed And I rin slaw Whar ye droon ae man,

      Traditional saying

   2. uncountableA river in Wiltshire, England.
   3. uncountableA river in Lincolnshire, England.
2. countableA surname.

   “How to hide, survive and use the urban environment as a sanctuary was a challenge but the soldiers adapted to the real-life challenges,” ETG Commander Col. Toby Till explained.

   2023 October 26, Rojoef Manuel, “British Army Trials Situational Awareness Technologies in Urban Warfare Training”, in The Defense Post, archived from the original on 17 Jul 2024

   1 more example

   Technically speaking, it’s Lucas Till, the actor playing Tripp, who is far too old to be riding a school bus, not his character in Monster Trucks, who is written as a 16-year-old, maybe 17 tops. But Till does not look 16, nor 17, nor even 18.

   2017 January 12, Jesse Hassenger, “A literal monster truck is far from the stupidest thing about Monster Trucks”, in The Onion AV Club, archived from the original on 27 Jan 2017