different between thill vs shill

English

Alternative forms

• fill (dialectal)

Etymology

From Middle English thille, thylle, from Old English þille (“board; floorboard; plank; stake; pole”), from Proto-Germanic *þilj? (“board; floorboard; deck”), from Proto-Indo-European *tel- (“plank; board”). Cognate with Dutch deel, German Low German Deel (> English deal (“plank”)), German Diele, Swedish tilja, Icelandic þilja. Akin to English theal (“board; plank”). Doublet of deal.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /??l/
• Rhymes: -?l

Noun

thill (plural thills)

1. One of the two long pieces of wood, extending before a vehicle, between which a horse is hitched; a shaft.
2. (mining) The shallow stratum of underclay that lies under a seam of coal; the bottom of a coal-seam.
   • 1888, Rudyard Kipling, ‘At Twenty-two’, In Black and White, Folio Society 2005, p. 405:

     One by one, Janki leading, they crept into the old gallery – a six-foot way with a scant four feet from thill to roof.

Derived terms

• thilly

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:thill.

Anagrams

• illth

Middle English

Noun

thill

1. Alternative form of thylle

English

Etymology

Unknown; attested as verb 1914, as noun 1916. Perhaps an abbreviation of shillaber, attested 1913. The word entered English via carny, originally denoting a carnival worker who pretends to be a member of the audience in an attempt to elicit interest in an attraction.

Speculatively an extended form of German Schieber (“black marketeer, profiteer”) via *shi-la-ber.

There are some suggestions that it originates in the surname Shilaber or Shillibeer, especially George Shillibeer, but proposed origins are dubious as the word is first attested in North America in the 20th century, while proposed models are 19th century British.

American humorist Benjamin Penhallow Shillaber (1814–1890) was known to write under the name Mrs. Ruth Partington to lend credibility to some of his ideas. This is one more possible origin of the word, although there is no specific evidence supporting a connection.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??l/
• Rhymes: -?l

Noun

shill (plural shills)

1. A person paid to endorse a product favourably, while pretending to be impartial.
   • 1983, Robert Anton Wilson, Prometheus Rising,

     Witnesses have testified that Jim Jones (like a few other professional faith-healers) used shills part of the time....

2. An accomplice at a confidence trick during an auction or gambling game.
   • 1994, Cormac McCarthy, The Crossing,

     The pitchman swept his cane in a slow acceleration over the heads of the crowd and then suddenly pointed the silver cap toward Billy and the shill.

3. (gambling) A house player in a casino.

Synonyms

• shillaber

Translations

Verb

shill (third-person singular simple present shills, present participle shilling, simple past and past participle shilled)

1. (derogatory) To promote or endorse in return for payment, especially dishonestly.
   • 1996, Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World,

     Today there are even commercials in which real scientists, some of considerable distinction, shill for corporations. They teach that scientists too will lie for money. As Tom Paine warned, inuring us to lies lays the groundwork for many other evils.

2. To put under cover; to sheal.
3. (Britain, obsolete, dialect) To shell.

Related terms

• sheep-dip

Translations

References

Anagrams

• Hills, hills