pilm

English

Etymology

Contraction of pillom, apparently from British English pylor (“dust”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɪlm/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪlm

Noun

pilm (uncountable)

1. (dialect) dust
   • 1876, Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature, and Art, Report and transactions, volume 8, page 722:

     What is the derivation of pilm = dust, so frequently heard in Devon, and its derivatives pilmy, dusty : it pilmeth. [...] Pillom is the full word, of which pilm is a contraction. It appears to have been derived from the British word pylor, dust.

   • 1885, Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature, and Art, Report and transactions, volume 17, page 55:

     I may quote the famous definition once given in court to enlighten the Bench and the Bar as to the nature of pilm : " Mucks a-drowed and zo vleeth," that is, " mud dried, and so it flies about "—not a bad definition of pilm, which everybody here knows means dust.

Verb

pilm (third-person singular simple present pilms, present participle pilming, simple past and past participle pilmed)

1. (dialect, impersonal) To have dust blow about

Derived terms

• pilmy

Anagrams

• IPML, impl, limp, plim