quills

• bayonets
• dirks
• gimlets
• perforates
• pikes
• poniards
• pricks
• prongs
• punches
• riddles

• noun
  1. The lower shaft of a feather, specifically the region lacking barbs.
  2. A pen made from a feather.
  3. Any pen.
  4. A sharply pointed, barbed, and easily detached needle-like structure that grows on the skin of a porcupine or hedgehog as a defense against predators.
  5. A thin piece of bark, especially of cinnamon or cinchona, curled up into a tube.
  6. The pen of a squid.
  7. The plectrum with which musicians strike the strings of certain instruments.
  8. The tube of a musical instrument.
  9. Something having the form of a quill, such as the fold or plain of a ruff, or a spindle, or spool, upon which the thread for the woof is wound in a shuttle.

• The hedgehog raised its sharp quills in defense when approached.
• Historically, writers used feather quills dipped in ink to write manuscripts.
• The porcupine's quills provide protection against predators in the wild.
• Artists sometimes incorporate natural elements like quills into their work for texture and visual interest.
• She carefully plucked a few quills from the bird's wing to use in her craft project.

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