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still¹ Definition

still (stil)

adjective

  1. without sound; quiet; silent
  2. hushed, soft, or low in sound
  3. not moving; stationary; at rest; motionless: following stand, sit, lie, etc., sometimes regarded as an adverb
  4. characterized by little or no commotion or agitation; tranquil; calm; serene the still water of the lake
  5. not effervescent or bubbling: said of wine
  6. Film designating or of a single posed photograph or a photograph made from a single frame of a filmed sequence or scene, for use as in publicity

Etymology: ME < OE stille, akin to Ger still < IE *stelnu- < base *stel-, to place, set up, standing, immobile > stalk, stall, L locus, place, Gr stēlē, a post

noun

  1. silence; quiet in the still of the night
  2. Film a still photograph

adverb

  1. at or up to the time indicated, whether past, present, or future
  2. even; yet: used as an intensifier with a comparative form, etc. cold yesterday, but still colder today
  3. nevertheless; even then [rich but still unhappy]; often used as a conjunctive adverb [he failed; still, he never stopped trying]
  4. Archaic ever; constantly

transitive verb

to make still; quiet; specif.,

  1. to make silent
  2. to make motionless
  3. to calm; relieve

intransitive verb

to become still

still¹ Related Forms
still′·ness noun
still¹ Idioms

still and all

Informal nevertheless

still² Definition

still (stil)

noun

  1. an apparatus used for distilling liquids, esp. alcoholic liquors
  2. distillery

Etymology: < obs. still, to distill < L stillare, to drop, drip, trickle < stilla, a drop < *stir(a)la, dim. of stiria, a drop: see stone

transitive verb, intransitive verb

  1. to distill
  2. Dialectal to distill (alcoholic liquor) illegally

still Synonyms

still

modif.

  1. Silent

    calm, tranquil, noiseless; see quiet 2.

  2. Yet

    nevertheless, furthermore, however; see besides, but 1, yet 1.

still Usage Examples

Preposition: from

  • film: Platinum package DVDs can include special features, such as guest greetings, honeymoon photos, and a slideshow of stills from the film.

Modifies a noun

  • gallery: The original theatrical trailer is in good shape, and the stills gallery offers some attractive artwork to wade through.
  • image: This is similar to a sequence of still images compressed according to the JPEG algorithm.
  • water: Small still waters Best time of year: April, May or early June; then, late September, October.
  • painting: Rather than depicting real objects, as one would with a still life painting, Whitman incorporated real objects into his artwork.
  • evening: Perhaps it did, for it is a fine jewel in a fine crown, on a still evening faithfully mirroring the surrounding hills.
still Quotes

America makes prodigious mistakes, America has cummings thoroughly and perfectlyannihilated by that vast and painful process of Unthinking which may result in a minutebitof purelypersonal Feeling.Whichminutebit is Art. colossal faults, but onething cannot be denied: America is always on the move. She may be going to Hell, of course, but at least she isn't standing still.

—cummings, e e pen name of  Edward Estlin Cummings

He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

—Bible (Old Testament)

Stand inawe, and sinnot: communewithyourownheart upon your bed, and be still.

—Bible (Old Testament)

   No economy ever stands still.

—Harrod, Sir Roy

At worst, one is in motion; and at best, Reaching no absolute, in which to rest, One is always nearer by not keeping still.

—Gunn,Thom(sonWilliam)

I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hope For hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love For love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith But the faith and the hope and the love are all in the waiting. Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought, So the darkness shall be the light and the stillness the dancing.

—Eliot,T(homas) S(tearns)

Still falls the Rainö Dark as the world of man, black as our lossö Blind as the nineteen hundred and forty nails Upon the cross.

—Sitwell, Dame Edith Louisa

And, behold, the L passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the L; but the L was not in the wind: and after thewind anearthquake; butthe L wasnot inthe earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the L was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

—Bible (Old Testament)

The feeling of Sunday is the same everywhere, heavy, melancholy, standing still.Like whentheysay 'Asit wasin the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end'.

—Rhys,Jean pseudonym of  Ellen Gwendolen Rees Williams

They shut me up in Proseö As when a little girl They put me in the Closetö Because they liked me'still'.

—Dickinson, Emily Elizabeth

Browse dictionary entries near still

  1. ‹ stiletto
  2. ‹ stile
  3. ‹ stilbite
  4. ‹ stilbestrol
  5. ‹ stilbene
  6. ‹ stigmatize
  7. ‹ stigmatism
  8. ‹ stigmatic
  9. ‹ stigmata
  10. ‹ stigmasterol
  1. still alarm ›
  2. still hunt ›
  3. still life ›
  4. stillbirth ›
  5. stillborn ›
  6. stillness ›
  7. Stillson wrench ›
  8. stilly ›
  9. stilt ›
  10. stilted ›