till

preposition

1. 1

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

   She stayed till the very end.

   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.

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

2. 2

   Before (a certain time or event).

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

   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.

3. 3

   obsoleteTo, up to (physically).

   They led him till his tent

   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.

   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

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

4. 4

   obsoleteTo, toward (in attitude).

   "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."

   "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.

   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.'

5. 5

   So 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.

conjunction

1. 1

   Until, until the time that.

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

   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.

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

   And the Mouse sat and laughed till he cried.

noun

1. 1

   A 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.

2. 2

   A removable box within a cash register containing the money.

   Pull all the tills and lock them in the safe.

   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).

3. 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. 4

   A cash drawer in a bank, used by a teller.

5. 5

   obsoleteA tray or drawer in a chest.

verb

1. 1

   To develop so as to improve or prepare for usage; to cultivate (said of knowledge, virtue, mind etc.).

2. 2

   To 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.

3. 3

   To cultivate soil.

4. 4

   obsoleteTo prepare; to get.

   Nor knowes a trappe nor snare to till

noun

1. 1

   glacial drift consisting of a mixture of clay, sand, pebbles and boulders

2. 2

   manure or other material used to fertilize land

noun

1. 1

   A vetch; a tare.

Forms

plural

tills

past tense

tilled

past participle

tilled

present participle

tilling

third person singular

tills