Etymology From Old English þȳrlian (“to pierce”), derived from þȳrel (“hole”) (archaic English thirl). Doublet of thirl (verb).
1
Ergative To suddenly excite someone, or to give someone great pleasure; to (figuratively) electrify; to experience such a sensation.
The cruel word her tender heart so thrilled, That sudden cold did run through every vein.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 37:
1854, Matthew Arnold, Preface to Poems vivid and picturesque turns of expression […] which thrill the reader with a sudden delight
1 more example
One love That has possessed me; One love Thrilling me through1937, Frank Churchill, Leigh Harline, “One Song”, in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Walt Disney:
2
Ergative To (cause something to) tremble or quiver.
3
Obsolete To perforate by a pointed instrument; to bore; to transfix; to drill.
he perced through his chaufed chest With thrilling point of deadly yron brand1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 42:
Etymology From Old English þȳrlian (“to pierce”), derived from þȳrel (“hole”) (archaic English thirl). Doublet of thirl (verb).
1
A trembling or quivering, especially one caused by emotion; a frisson.
She mixed furniture with the same fatal profligacy as she mixed drinks, and this outrageous contact between things which were intended by Nature to be kept poles apart gave her an inexpressible thrill.1935, George Goodchild, chapter 1, in Death on the Centre Court:
2
Figuratively A cause of sudden excitement; a kick.
The thrill is gone / Gone, gone for me / I still live on, lonely though I'll be1951, Roy Hawkins, Rick Darnell, “The Thrill Is Gone”:
3
Medicine, Sciences A slight quivering of the heart that accompanies a cardiac murmur.
4
A breathing place or hole; a nostril, as of a bird.
Engineering, Machining, Mechanical engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences To drill and thread in one operation, using a tool bit that cuts the hole and the threads in one series of computer-controlled movements.