till

till¹

/til/, prep.

1. up to the time of; until: to fight till death.

2. before (used in negative constructions): He did not come till today.

3. near or at a specified time: till evening.

4. Chiefly Midland, Southern, and Western U.S. before; to: It's ten till four on my watch.

5. Scot. and North Eng.

a. to.

b. unto.

conj.

6. to the time that or when; until.

7. before (used in negative constructions).

[bef. 900; ME; OE (north) til < ON til to, akin to OE till station, G Ziel goal. See TILL²]

Usage. TILL¹ and UNTIL are both old in the language and are interchangeable as both prepositions and conjunctions: It rained till (or until) nearly midnight. The savannah remained brown and lifeless until (or till) the rains began. TILL is not a shortened form of UNTIL and is not spelled 'TILL. 'TIL is usually considered a spelling error, though widely used in advertising: Open 'til ten.

till²

/til/, v.t.

1. to labor, as by plowing or harrowing, upon (land) for the raising of crops; cultivate.

2. to plow.

v.i.

3. to cultivate the soil.

[bef. 900; ME tilen, OE tilian to strive after, get, till; c. D telen to breed, cultivate, G zielen to aim at]

till³

/til/, n.

1. a drawer, box, or the like, as in a shop or bank, in which money is kept.

2. a drawer, tray, or the like, as in a cabinet or chest, for keeping valuables.

3. an arrangement of drawers or pigeonholes, as on a desk top.

[1425-75; late ME tylle, n. use of tylle to draw, OE -tyllan (in fortyllan to seduce); akin to L dolus trick, Gk dólos bait (for fish), any cunning contrivance, treachery]

till⁴

/til/, n.

1. Geol. glacial drift consisting of an unassorted mixure of clay, sand, gravel, and boulders.

2. a stiff clay.

[1665-75; orig. uncert.]

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I

In geology, the unsorted material deposited directly by glacial ice and showing no stratification.

Till is sometimes called boulder clay because it is composed of clay, boulders of intermediate size, or both. The rock fragments are usually angular and sharp rather than rounded, because they are deposited from ice and have undergone little water transport. The pebbles and boulders may be faceted and striated from grinding while lodged in the glacier.

II

(as used in expressions)

Eulenspiegel Till

no till farming

till less agriculture

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▪ geology

      in geology, unsorted material deposited directly by glacial ice and showing no stratification. Till is sometimes called boulder clay because it is composed of clay, boulders of intermediate sizes, or a mixture of these. The rock fragments are usually angular and sharp rather than rounded, because they are deposited from the ice and have undergone little water transport. The pebbles and boulders may be faceted and striated from grinding while lodged in the glacier. Some till deposits show limited organization of the fragments: large numbers of stones may lie with their long axes parallel to the flow direction of the glacier. This could provide more accurate information about flow direction than other glacial indicators. Although difficult to distinguish by appearance, there are two types of till, basal and ablation. Basal till was carried in the base of the glacier and commonly laid down under it. Ablation till was carried on or near the surface of the glacier and was let down as the glacier melted.

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