Definition of quill

• n. - One of the large feathers of a bird's wing, or one of the rectrices of the tail; also, the stock of such a feather.
• n. - A pen for writing made by sharpening and splitting the point or nib of the stock of a feather; as, history is the proper subject of his quill.
• n. - A spine of the hedgehog or porcupine.
• n. - The pen of a squid. See Pen.
• n. - The plectrum with which musicians strike the strings of certain instruments.
• n. - The tube of a musical instrument.
• n. - Something having the form of a quill
• n. - The fold or plain of a ruff.
• n. - A spindle, or spool, as of reed or wood, upon which the thread for the woof is wound in a shuttle.
• n. - A hollow spindle.
• v. t. - To plaint in small cylindrical ridges, called quillings; as, to quill a ruffle.
• v. t. - To wind on a quill, as thread or yarn.