Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Either of the two long shafts between which an animal is fastened when pulling a wagon.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A shaft (one of a pair) of a cart, gig, or other carriage. The thills extend from the body of the carriage, one on each side of the horse. See cut under sleigh.
  • noun In coal-mining: The surface upon the tram runs.
  • noun The under-clay. See under-clay.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One of the two long pieces of wood, extending before a vehicle, between which a horse is hitched; a shaft.
  • noun (Mining) The floor of a coal mine.
  • noun a device for connecting the thill of a vehicle to the axle.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The thin stratum of underclay which lies under a seam of coal; the bottom of a coal-seam.
  • noun One of the two long pieces of wood, extending before a vehicle, between which a horse is hitched; a shaft.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun one of two shafts extending from the body of a cart or carriage on either side of the animal that pulls it

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English thille, perhaps from Old English, plank.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Origin unknown.

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