Emily Dickinson Lexicon

TILE-ORE, n.

A subspecies of octahedral red copper ore. Ure.

TIL-ER, n.

A man whose occupation is to cover buildings with tiles. Bacon.

TIL-ING, n.

1. A roof covered with tiles. Luke v.
2. Tiles in general.

TIL-ING, ppr.

Covering with tiles.

TILL, or TILL'ER, n.

A money box in a shop; a drawer.

TILL, n.

A vetch; a tare. [Local.]

TILL, prep. [or adv. Sax. til, tille; Sw. and Dan. til; Sax. atillan, to reach or come to. This word in Sw. and Dan. as in Scottish, signifies to or at, and is the principal word used where we use to. The primary sense of the verb is expressed in the Saxon.]

1. To the time or time of. I did not see the man till the last time he came; I waited for him till four o'clock; I will wait till next week. Till now, to the present time. I never heard of the fact till now. Till then, to that time. I never heard of the fact till then.
2. It is used before verbs and sentences in a like sense, denoting to the time specified in the sentence or clause following. I will wait till you arrive. He said to them, occupy till I come. Luke xix. Certain Jews – bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. Acts xxiii. Meditate so long till you make some act of prayer to God. Taylor. Note. In this use, till is not a conjunction; it does not connect sentences like and, or like or. It neither denotes union nor separation, nor an alternative. It has always the same office, except that it precedes a single word or a single sentence; the time to which it refers being in one case expressed by a single word, as now, or then, or time, with this, or that, &c. and in the other by a verb with its adjuncts; as, occupy till I come, that is, to I come. In the latter use, till is a preposition preceding a sentence, like against, in the phrase, against I come.

TILL, v.t. [Sax. tilian, tiligan, to work, to toil, to cultivate, to prepare; W. telu, to strain. In G. bestellen, from stellen, to set, to put in order, has the sense of tilling, cultivating. These words are doubtless of one family.]

1. To labor; to cultivate; to plow and prepare for seed, and to dress crops. This word includes not only plowing, but harrowing, and whatever is done to prepare ground for a crop, and to keep it free from weeds. The Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden to till the ground from whence he was taken. Gen. iii.
2. In the most general sense, to till may include every species of husbandry, and this may be its sense in Scripture.

TILL'A-BLE, a.

Capable of being tilled; amble; fit for the plow. Carew.

TILL'AGE, n.

The operation, practice or art of preparing land for seed, and keeping the ground free from weeds which might impede the growth of crops. Tillage includes manuring, plowing, harrowing and rolling land, or is whatever is done to bring it to a proper state to receive the seed, and the operations of plowing, harrowing and hoeing the ground, to destroy weeds and loosen the soil after it is planted; culture; a principal branch of agriculture. Tillage of the earth is the principal as it was the first occupation of man, and no employment is more honorable.

TILL'ED, pp.

Cultivated; prepared for seed and kept clean.

TILL'ER, n.

1. One who tills; a husbandman; a cultivator; a plowman.
2. The bar or lever employed to turn the rudder of a ship.
3. A small drawer; a till.
4. Among farmers, the shoot of a plant, springing from the root or bottom of the original stalk; also, the sprout or young tree that springs from the root or stump.
5. A young timber tree. [Local.]

TILL'ER, v.i.

To put forth new shoots from the root, or round the bottom of the original stalk; as, we say, wheat or rye tillers; it spreads by tillering. The common orthography is tiller. Sir Joseph Banks writes it tillow.

TILL'ER-ING, n.

The act of sending forth young shoots from the root or around the bottom of the original stalk.

TILL'ER-ING, ppr.

Sending out new shoots round the bottom of the original stem.

TILL'ER-ROPE, n.

The rope which forms a communication between the fore end of the tiller and the wheel. Mar. Dict.

TILL'ING, n.

The operation of cultivating land; culture.

TILL'ING, ppr.

Cultivating.

TILL'MAN, n.

A man who tills the earth; a husbandman. [Obs.] Tusser.

TILL'Y-FAL-LY, or TILL'Y-VAL-LY, adv. [or adj.]

A word formerly used when any thing said was rejected as trifling or impertinent. [Obs.]

TILT, n.¹ [Sax. teld; Dan. telt; Ice. tiald; W. telu, to stretch over.]

1. A tent; a covering over head. Denham.
2. The cloth covering of a cart or wagon.
3. The cover of a boat; a small canopy or awning of canvas or other cloth, extended over the stern sheets of a boat. Mar. Dict.

TILT, n.² [See the Verb.]

1. A thrust; as, a tilt with a lance. Addison.
2. Formerly, a military exercise on horseback, in which the combatants attacked each other with lances; as, tilts and tournaments.
3. A large hammer; a tilt-hammer; used in iron manufactures.
4. Inclination forward; as, the tilt of a cask; or a cask is a-tilt.

TILT, v.i.

1. To run or ride and thrust with a lance; to practice the military game or exercise of thrusting at each other on horseback. Milton.
2. To fight with rapiers. Swords out and tilting one at other's breast. Shak.
3. To rush, as in combat. Collier.
4. To play unsteadily; to ride, float and toss. The fleet swift tilting o'er the surges flew. Pope.
5. To lean; to fall, as on one side. The trunk of the body is kept from tilting forward by the muscles of the back. Grew.

TILT, v.t.¹

To cover with a cloth or awning. Philips.

TILT, v.t.² [Sax. tealtian, to lean, to incline, to nod; Dan. tylder, to pour out, to decant. In D. tillen signifies to lift, L. tollo. This is probably a derivative verb.]

1. To incline; to raise one end, as of a cask, for discharging liquor; as, to tilt a barrel.
2. To point or thrust, as a lance. Sons against fathers tilt the fatal lance. Philips.
3. To hammer or forgo with a tilt-hammer or tilt; as, to tilt steel to render it more ductile. Cyc.
4. To cover with a tilt.