till 1 of 2

verb

ˈtil How to pronounce till (audio)
Definition of tillnext
as in to cultivate
to work by plowing, sowing, and raising crops on farmers tilling the soil from sunup to sunset

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

till

2 of 2

preposition

as in until
up to (a particular time) We studied till four in the morning, which didn't exactly make us alert for the test the next day.

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of till
Verb
Many reduced or eliminated their petrochemical use, stopped tilling their fields and added additional plant varieties and cover crops to protect the soil. — Sydney Giacalone, The Conversation, 17 Sep. 2026 The company had sent heavy machinery to the site, an undeveloped valley in northeast Independence, a month earlier to start tilling the earth and digging runoff ponds. — Ilana Arougheti, Kansas City Star, 2 Sep. 2026 Dash, 2026, the forty-seven-minute, two-channel essay-film at the project’s core, is filled with quiet, almost meditative scenes of machines tilling the land that initially conjure a faux-pastoral aesthetic register. — Pablo Larios, Artforum, 1 Sep. 2026 Ali’s father tilled tiny ancestral fields using an irrigation system developed during the Roman empire. — Literary Hub, 27 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for till
Recent Examples of Synonyms for till
  1. cultivate
  2. farm
  3. harvest
  4. plant
  5. tend
Verb
  • Vance speaks with the manipulative skill of a politician who has cultivated a rapid-fire style designed not to persuade, but to overwhelm.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The challenge is not racing to construct a synthetic copy but cultivating the capacity to recognize, interface with and leverage what has been present all along.
    — Pravir Malik, Forbes.com, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of cultivate
Verb
  • The socio-environmental manager of the reservoir project, Karina Vergara, told CNN that the areas to be resettled were nearby and would have similar soil and conditions favorable to farming.
    — Hira Humayun, CNN Money, 18 Oct. 2026
  • The family has been farming rice there since 1937 and has long managed its land as both cropland and wildlife habitat.
    — Ryan Brennan, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of farm
Verb
  • This year’s grape harvest was one of the earliest in decades for some regions, with significantly less tonnage harvested following weather events in the spring that led to smaller grape clusters.
    — Lizzie Kane, Sacbee.com, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Photograph by Faiz Abu Rmeleh / Getty On Friday, a group of Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian farmers who were harvesting olives in the West Bank.
    — Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of harvest
Verb
  • Reduced tillage or no-till was used by 91 percent of participating growers; 56 percent planted cover crops.
    — Alexandra Harrell, Footwear News, 15 Oct. 2026
  • And so the fungi then take up these nutrients and move them through these vast networks and feed them to plant roots.
    — Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of plant
Verb
  • Higher diesel prices – essential to transporting goods and agricultural production – tend to drive up costs across the wider economy and fuel inflation.
    — Elsa Ohlen, CNBC, 17 Oct. 2026
  • That his arguments and those made by the current administration against immigrants tend in a totalitarian direction cannot be denied.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of tend

Phrases Containing till

Browse Nearby Words

tiles
till
tillable
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Till.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/till. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on till

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about till

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of compunction

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All