# spill

Pronunciation: say "SPIL" /spɪl/

## Verb

1. To accidentally let something, especially a liquid, fall out and spread or make a mess.
   - Simple: To let a liquid fall out by accident and make a mess.
   - _The toddler managed to spill milk across the entire counter._
   - _She spilled an entire glass of wine on the white tablecloth._
3. Of a substance, to spread out or fall from where it was being held.
   - Simple: To spread out or fall from a container by accident.
   - _Liquids spill more easily from a wide, shallow dish._
   - _The sand spilled out across the tiles as the bucket fell._
4. To overflow and move out beyond the area meant to contain it.
   - Simple: To flow or move out beyond the edge of where something should stay.
   - _Protesters spilled beyond the barricades and into the main road._
   - _Shoppers spill into the parking lot when the doors finally open._
6. To reveal information, especially secrets, to someone who didn't previously know it.
   - Simple: To tell a secret or share information that someone didn't know.
   - _Under pressure, the witness spilled every detail to the detectives._
   - _She refused to spill what she knew about the merger._
7. To fail to hold onto something you were trying to catch, dropping it instead.
   - Simple: To drop a ball or object you were trying to catch.
   - _The goalkeeper spilled the shot, and a striker tapped in the rebound._
   - _Defenders sometimes spill the ball when two players collide._
8. To overflow or flow out, over, or off something, typically in figurative use.
   - Simple: To flow out or over an edge, used for things that aren't really liquids.
   - _Golden light spilled over the hills as the sun rose._
   - _Joy seemed to spill from her voice as she spoke._
9. To cause a liquid, especially blood, to flow out and be lost or wasted.
   - Simple: To cause blood or another liquid to flow out and be lost.
   - _Tyrants throughout history have spilled blood to hold power._
   - _He swore he would never spill another man's blood._
11. To express something, or to be expressed, especially repeatedly or in an elaborate, flowing way.
   - Simple: To pour out words or feelings, often again and again or in great detail.
   - _The poet spilled his grief across pages of overwrought verse._
   - _She would spill her every emotion to the patient counselor._
12. To come undone, as a fastening, knot, or arrangement does.
   - Simple: To come apart or come loose so it no longer holds together.
   - _The hastily tied knot spilled under the strain._
   - _Old fastenings can spill when the cords wear thin._
13. To mar or damage something, to destroy it through misuse, or to waste it.
   - Simple: To ruin, damage, or waste something by using it badly.
   - _Reckless heirs spilled the family fortune within a decade._
   - _He warned them not to spill their strength on petty quarrels._
15. In Australian politics, to open a parliamentary party's leadership positions for re-election. *(Australian)*
   - Simple: In Australian politics, to declare a party's top jobs open so members can vote on them again.
   - _Backbenchers moved to spill the leadership after a string of poor polls._
   - _The party spilled all its frontbench positions following the defeat._

## Noun

2. A mess left by something, especially a liquid, that has been dropped or poured out.
   - Simple: A mess made when something, often a liquid, falls or pours out.
   - _A spill of olive oil left the tiles slippery for hours._
   - _The waiter quickly mopped up the spill near the table._
5. An act of falling or stumbling, especially off a bicycle or horse.
   - Simple: A fall, especially from a bike, horse, or while moving fast.
   - _A careless skater took a spill on the crowded rink._
   - _Her spill off the horse left her with a bruised arm._
10. A thin strip of wood or twisted paper used to transfer a flame from a fire to light a candle, cigarette, or similar.
   - Simple: A thin stick or rolled paper used to carry a flame and light something.
   - _A box of spills sat on the shelf above the fireplace._
   - _She lit a spill at the grate and carried it to the lamp._
14. In Australian politics, a declaration that a parliamentary party's leadership is vacant and open for re-election. *(Australian)*
   - Simple: In Australian politics, a vote to make a party leader's job open again so members can choose a new one.
   - _Backbenchers demanded a spill when support for the prime minister collapsed._
   - _Tuesday's spill saw the deputy challenge for the top job._

## Verb

16. To cause a rider to be thrown from a mount, carriage, or the like. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To throw a rider off a horse or out of a carriage.
   - _The runaway horse spilled its groom onto the cobblestones._
   - _A reckless driver could spill his passengers at the first sharp bend._
17. To go to ruin or to waste, or to be destroyed; to perish. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To be ruined, wasted, or brought to nothing.

## Noun

18. A small sum of money. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A small amount of money.
   - _A spill was all he could spare for the beggar at the gate._
   - _The old man tucked his last spill into a worn purse._

## Other meanings

- (noun) Unwanted sound captured by a microphone from a source other than the intended one.
- (noun) A slender piece of any material at all, whether wood, bone, glass, or anything else.
- (noun) A slender rod or pin made of metal.
- (noun) A peg or pin for stopping up a hole, as in a cask; a spile.
- (verb) To cover or decorate a surface with slender pieces of wood, metal, ivory, and similar materials; to inlay.
- (noun) A thick lath or pole driven horizontally ahead of the main timbering when advancing a tunnel through loose ground.
- (noun) A small slender stick used in the game of spillikins, also known as jackstraws.
- (verb) To ease a sail out of the wind's pressure so that it can be more easily reefed or furled, or to lessen the strain.
- (noun) A splinter that has become lodged in the skin.

## Origin

From Middle English spillen, from Old English spillan or spildan ("to kill, destroy, waste"), going back through Proto-Germanic *spilþijaną ("to spoil, kill, murder") to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to split or tear." It is related to Danish spilde, Swedish spilla, and Icelandic spilla ("to contaminate, spoil").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/spill (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).