dill

Everyday

1. A herb with soft feathery leaves and a fresh taste, used in cooking, especially with fish, potatoes and pickles. tree →
2. (Australia, NZ, informal) A silly or foolish person; a mild, friendly insult. tree →

In the lessons

In cooking and gardening lessons dill is a herb grown from seeds; in food it flavours dill pickles and salmon; in Australian talk calling someone «a dill» is like calling them a twit; phrases: «dill pickle», «fresh dill», «you dill!».

Examples

• Mum sprinkled chopped dill on the potatoes. tree →
• I love crunchy dill pickles in my burger. tree →
• We grew dill in a pot on the windowsill. tree →
• Dill seeds smell a bit like aniseed. tree →
• (Australia) «You left your lunch on the bus, you dill!» laughed Jack. tree →
• (Australia) Don't be a dill, put your hat on in the sun. tree →
• Grandma makes salmon with dill sauce. tree →
• The gardener was near the gate, watering the dill and parsley, the carrots and parsnips. tree →

Note

The herb is uncountable: some dill, not «a dill». The slang sense is countable (a dill) and mild, used among friends. A «dill pickle» is a cucumber pickled with dill.