Definition

1. Preposition:

   • Up to the time of; until: Indicates the point in time when something happens or a period ends.
   • Before (in negative constructions): Used to indicate that something does not happen before a specified time.

2. Conjunction:

   • Up to the time when; until: Introduces a clause specifying the time when an event occurs or a state ends.
   • Before (in negative constructions): Used to introduce a clause indicating that something does not happen before a specified event.

3. Noun:

   • A cash register or drawer for money: A compartment, drawer, or box in a store, bank, or restaurant where money is kept.
   • Unstratified glacial drift: A geological term for sediment (clay, sand, gravel, boulders) deposited directly by a glacier without being sorted by water.

4. Verb:

   • To prepare and cultivate land for crops: To work land by plowing, fertilizing, etc., to make it ready for planting.

Usage Examples

• Preposition:

  • The store is open from 9 a.m. till 6 p.m.
  • I won't believe it till I see it with my own eyes.

• Conjunction:

  • Wait here till I come back.
  • She didn't speak till everyone had finished eating.

• Noun:

  • The cashier counted the money in the till at the end of the day.
  • The field study examined the composition of the glacial till.

• Verb:

  • Farmers till the soil in the spring before sowing seeds.

Advanced Usage

• "Till" vs. "Until": "Till" and "until" are generally interchangeable in most contexts. "Till" is older and considered slightly less formal than "until," but both are correct. "Till" is a contraction of "until"; it is a separate word. The contraction is 'til (with one 'l'), though this is often considered informal or poetic.
  • Formal/Standard: "We will wait until/till further notice."
  • Informal/Poetic: "Wait for me 'til the sun goes down."

Variants and Related Words

• 'Til (preposition/conjunction): A poetic or informal variant of "till" and "until."
• Until (preposition/conjunction): A synonym, often used in more formal writing.
• Tillage (noun): The preparation of land for growing crops.
  • Modern tillage methods aim to reduce soil erosion.
• Tiller (noun): 1. A person who tills land. 2. A lever used to turn a boat's rudder.
  • The farmer is a tiller of the soil.

Synonyms

• Preposition/Conjunction: Until, up to, before (in negative contexts).
• Noun (cash drawer): Cash register, cashbox, drawer.
• Noun (geology): Boulder clay, glacial drift.
• Verb: Cultivate, plow, work, farm.

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

• To have one's fingers/hand in the till (idiom): To steal money from the place where one works, especially from a cash register.
  • The manager was fired for having his hand in the till.

Related Idioms

• From dawn till dusk: From early morning until evening; all day long.
  • They worked in the fields from dawn till dusk.
• Good-bye till we meet again: A farewell phrase meaning "until we see each other next time."
• It's not over till the fat lady sings: Used to say that you cannot be sure of the outcome of an event until it has completely finished.

Noun

1. a strongbox for holding cash
2. a treasury for government funds
3. unstratified soil deposited by a glacier; consists of sand and clay and gravel and boulders mixed together

Verb

1. work land as by ploughing, harrowing, and manuring, in order to make it ready for cultivation
   • till the soil