• Spill

    Pronunciation

    • IPA: /spɪl/
    • Rhymes: -ɪl

    Origin

    Old English spillan.

    Full definition of spill

    Verb

    1. (transitive) To drop something so that it spreads out or makes a mess; to pour.I spilled some sticky juice on the kitchen floor.
    2. (intransitive) To spread out or fall out, as above.Some sticky juice spilled onto the kitchen floor.
      • Isaac WattsHe was so topful of himself, that he let it spill on all the company.
    3. (transitive) To drop something that was intended to be caught.
      • 2011, October 29, Neil Johnston, Norwich 3 - 3 Blackburn, That should have been that, but Hart caught a dose of the Hennessey wobbles and spilled Adlene Guedioura's long-range shot.
    4. To mar; to damage; to destroy by misuse; to waste.
      • PuttenhamThey colours disfigure the stuff and spill the whole workmanship.
      • FullerSpill not the morning, the quintessence of day, in recreations.
    5. (obsolete) To be destroyed, ruined, or wasted; to come to ruin; to perish; to waste.
      • ChaucerThat thou wilt suffer innocents to spill.
    6. To cause to flow out and be lost or wasted; to shed.
      • Drydento revenge his blood so justly spilt
    7. To cover or decorate with slender pieces of wood, metal, ivory, etc.; to inlay.
    8. (nautical) To relieve a sail from the pressure of the wind, so that it can be more easily reefed or furled, or to lessen the strain.

    Noun

    spill

    (plural spills)
    1. (countable) A mess of something that has been dropped.
    2. A fall or stumble.The bruise is from a bad spill he had last week.
    3. A small stick or piece of paper used to light a candle, cigarette etc by the transfer of a flame from a fire.
      • 2008, Elizabeth Bear, Ink and Steel: A Novel of the Promethean Age:Kit froze with the pipe between his teeth, the relit spill pressed to the weed within it.
    4. A slender piece of anything.
      1. A peg or pin for plugging a hole, as in a cask; a spile.
      2. A metallic rod or pin.
    5. (mining) One of the thick laths or poles driven horizontally ahead of the main timbering in advancing a level in loose ground.
    6. (obsolete) A small sum of money.
    7. (Australia, politics) A declaration that the leadership of a parliamentary party is vacant, and open for re-election. Short form of leadership spill

    Derived terms

    Terms derived from the noun or verb "spill"

    Anagrams

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