spill

Formsspills, spilling, spilled

Pluralspills

1. 1
   verbtransitive

   To accidentally let something, especially a liquid, fall out and spread or make a mess.

   The toddler managed to spill milk across the entire counter.

   She spilled an entire glass of wine on the white tablecloth.

   Similarslop, splash, slosh

   Note

   Two past forms serve this verb equally: spilled and spilt, and each works as both the simple past and the past participle (she spilled the juice; the juice was spilt). The object is whatever escapes, such as juice, milk or coffee. The surface it lands on comes in with on: sticky juice spilled on the kitchen floor.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   A mess left by something, especially a liquid, that has been dropped or poured out.

   A spill of olive oil left the tiles slippery for hours.

   The waiter quickly mopped up the spill near the table.

   Similarmess, slick

3. 3
   verbintransitive

   Of a substance, to spread out or fall from where it was being held.

   Liquids spill more easily from a wide, shallow dish.

   The sand spilled out across the tiles as the bucket fell.

   Similarpour, slop

   Note

   Here the liquid itself is the subject. Juice spills onto the floor, where in the accidental-pouring sense someone spills it, and the verb moves between the two uses without changing form. Isaac Watts stretched it to a person in 1741, describing a man so topful of himself that he let it spill on all the company, as if his conceit were an overfull cup.

4. 4
   verbintransitive

   To overflow and move out beyond the area meant to contain it.

   Protesters spilled beyond the barricades and into the main road.

   Shoppers spill into the parking lot when the doors finally open.

   Similarpour, stream, flood, surge, overflow

5. 5
   nouncountable

   An act of falling or stumbling, especially off a bicycle or horse.

   A careless skater took a spill on the crowded rink.

   Her spill off the horse left her with a bruised arm.

   Similarfall, tumble

6. 6
   verbtransitive or intransitive

   To reveal information, especially secrets, to someone who didn't previously know it.

   Under pressure, the witness spilled every detail to the detectives.

   She refused to spill what she knew about the merger.

   Similarreveal, divulge, disclose, tell, leak

   Oppositeconceal, withhold

   Note

   The secret-telling sense lives in fixed phrases. To spill one's guts is to confess everything, often with out: he spilled his guts out to his new psychologist. Spill it, used alone, is a promise or a demand to tell, as in Delos W. Lovelace's King Kong (1932): 'I'm going to spill it.' The verb works with or without an object.

7. 7
   verbtransitive

   To fail to hold onto something you were trying to catch, dropping it instead.

   The goalkeeper spilled the shot, and a striker tapped in the rebound.

   Defenders sometimes spill the ball when two players collide.

   Similardrop, fumble

   Oppositecatch, hold

   Note

   Sports reporting uses this word for a fumble at the moment of catching. In Neil Johnston's BBC Sport report of Norwich 3–3 Blackburn (2011), the goalkeeper Hart caught a dose of the wobbles and spilled a long-range shot. The object is the ball or the shot. The verb implies the ball was briefly held and then got away, which makes it a handling error rather than a clean miss.

8. 8
   verbfigurativelyintransitive

   To overflow or flow out, over, or off something, typically in figurative use.

   Golden light spilled over the hills as the sun rose.

   Joy seemed to spill from her voice as she spoke.

   Similarpour, flow, stream, flood, spread

9. 9
   verbtransitive

   To cause a liquid, especially blood, to flow out and be lost or wasted.

   Tyrants throughout history have spilled blood to hold power.

   He swore he would never spill another man's blood.

   Similarshed

   Note

   Blood is the classic object here, and shed is the closest synonym. The sense keeps the old idea of loss from the 'destroy, waste' meaning: blood that is spilled is blood wasted, usually through violence. Dryden's The Indian Emperour (1665) uses the spilt form in to revenge his Blood, so justly spilt, where spilling blood comes close to plain killing.

10. 10
    nouncountable

    A thin strip of wood or twisted paper used to transfer a flame from a fire to light a candle, cigarette, or similar.

    A box of spills sat on the shelf above the fireplace.

    She lit a spill at the grate and carried it to the lamp.

    Similartaper

    Note

    A fireside object as much as a word. Spills were kept in a vase on the mantelpiece, ready to carry flame from the grate. Agatha Christie's The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920) turns the vase into a hiding place when a character rolls a torn letter into spills and thrusts them in among the others. Elizabeth Bear's Ink and Steel (2008) has one relit and pressed to a pipe.

Showing meanings only. Show all 27