English

Adjective

quilled ‎(comparative more quilled, superlative most quilled)

1. having quills or similar structures
   • 1594, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 2, Act III, Scene I:

     In Ireland have I seen this stubborn Cade

     Oppose himself against a troop of kerns,

     And fought so long till that his thighs with darts

     Were almost like a sharp-quill'd porpentine;

   • 2010, T. Lloyd Winetsky, Maria Juana's Gift: A Novel, Sunstone Press (2010), ISBN 978-0-86534-779-3, page 148:

     He leaned down to inspect a white-quilled cactus, and then spotted a different kind with skinnier branches and only a few drab spines.

   • 2011, Alesa Corrin, Jonathan: The Griffin Prince, AuthorHouse (2011), ISBN 978-1-4567-4091-7, page 234:

     A quilled lionfish was face to face with a saurian moray eel, sizing it up before swimming on.

2. (of a flower) having long, narrow petals or florets
   • 1889, William Robinson, The English Flower Garden: Style, Position, And Arrangement, John Murray (1899), page 291:

     In the wild state the flowers are single—that is to say, only the outer florets are strap-shaped, and usually of a rosy-lilac tint, with yellowish disc florets; but under cultivation, all the florets have become ligulate or quilled […]

3. created through the process of quilling
4. (of fabric) having small, rounded folds
   • 1844, Louisa Stuart Costello, Memoirs of Eminent Englishwomen, Volume 1, R. Bentley (1844), page 169:

     Round the throat is a ruff of white muslin, quilled in large reverse plaids; […]

   • 1909, Henry C. Shelley, Inns and Taverns of Old London, L.C. Page and Company (1909):

     He insensibly began to alter his appearance; his cravat seemed quilled into a ruff, and his breeches swelled out into a farlingale. I now fancied him changing sexes; and as my eyes began to close in slumber, I imagined my fat landlord actually converted into as fat a landlady.

5. decorated with quillwork

Verb

quilled

1. simple past tense and past participle of quill