What does "fill" mean?
A sufficient or more than sufficient amount.
Fill
/fɪl/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A sufficient or more than sufficient amount.
- Grammar: fill is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: abide by, accommodate, act up to, adhere to.
- Useful contrasts: aspirated, blank file, bored.
- Usage evidence: I'll find someone to fill in for you.
How to use "fill"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "fill" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "fill" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "fill" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "fill" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "fill" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "abide by" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "fill", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A sufficient or more than sufficient amount. countable, uncountable
"Don't feed him any more: he's had his fill."
- 2 One of the thills or shafts of a carriage.
"It was a challenge to learn to harness him, guide him slowly back between the fills of the carriage, then to fasten the right buckles and snaps, making the harness and buggy all ready for travel to church or to town."
- 3 a quantity sufficient to satisfy wordnet
- 4 An amount that fills a container. countable, uncountable
"The mixer returned to the plant for another fill."
- 5 any material that fills a space or container wordnet
Show 8 more definitions
- 6 The filling of a container or area. countable, uncountable
"That machine can do 20 fills per minute."
- 7 Inexpensive material used to occupy empty spaces, especially in construction. countable, uncountable
"The ruins of earlier buildings were used as fill for more recent construction."
- 8 Soil and/or human-created debris discovered within a cavity or cut in the layers and exposed by excavation; fill soil. countable, uncountable
- 9 An embankment, as in railroad construction, to fill a hollow or ravine; also, the place which is to be filled. countable, uncountable
- 10 A short passage, riff, or rhythmic sound that helps to keep the listener's attention during a break between the phrases of a melody. countable, uncountable
"bass fill"
- 11 Ellipsis of fill light. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable
- 12 The weft yarn. countable, uncountable
- 13 The answers in a crossword puzzle that are not part of the theme. countable, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To make full; To add contents to (a container, cavity, or the like) so that it is full. ergative, transitive
"She filled a glass with milk."
- 2 plug with a substance wordnet
- 3 To make full; To enter (something), making it full. ergative, transitive
"The doors opened and guests filled the auditorium."
- 4 become full wordnet
- 5 To make full; To occupy fully, to take up all of. ergative, transitive
"The smell of spring filled the air."
Show 17 more definitions
- 6 make full, also in a metaphorical sense wordnet
- 7 To become full. intransitive
"The bucket filled with rain"
- 8 fill, satisfy or meet a want or need or condition or restriction wordnet
- 9 To become full.; To become pervaded with something. intransitive
"My heart filled with joy."
- 10 fill to satisfaction wordnet
- 11 To satisfy or obey (an order, request, or requirement). transitive
"The pharmacist filled my prescription for penicillin."
- 12 eat until one is sated wordnet
- 13 To install someone, or be installed, in (a position or office), eliminating a vacancy. transitive
"The board of supervisors called a specal election to fill the office, and at such special election Henry C. Andrews was elected judge of probate to fill out the said term."
- 14 appoint someone to (a position or a job) wordnet
- 15 To treat (a tooth) by adding a dental filling to it. transitive
"Dr. Smith filled Jim's cavity with silver amalgam."
- 16 assume, as of positions or roles wordnet
- 17 To block, obstruct transitive
"The drains were filled with gunk and no water could flow off."
- 18 occupy the whole of wordnet
- 19 To supply fully with food; to feed; to satisfy. transitive
"Are all the children filled and ready for bed?"
- 20 To trim (a yard) so that the wind blows on the after side of the sails. transitive
- 21 To have sexual intercourse with (a female). slang, transitive, vulgar
"Did you fill that girl last night?"
- 22 To ejaculate inside someone or something. slang, transitive, vulgar
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname transferred from the given name.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"I'll find someone to fill in for you."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "fill"?
Common synonyms include: abide by, accommodate, act up to, adhere to, admit, advise.
How do you use "fill" in a sentence?
I'll find someone to fill in for you.
How do you pronounce "fill"?
Pronounced /fɪl/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English fillen, fullen, from Old English fyllan (“to fill, fill up, replenish, satisfy; complete, fulfill”), from Proto-West Germanic *fullijan, from Proto-Germanic *fullijaną (“to make full, fill”), from *fullaz (“full”), from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós (“full”). Cognate with Scots fill (“to fill”), West Frisian folje (“to fill”), Low German füllen (“to fill”), Dutch vullen (“to fill”), German füllen (“to fill”), Danish fylde (“to fill”), Swedish fylla (“to fill”), Norwegian fylle (“to fill”), Icelandic fylla (“to fill”) and Latin plenus (“full”)
Etymology 2
From Middle English fille, vülle, fülle, from Old English fyllu, from Proto-West Germanic *fullī, from Proto-Germanic *fullį̄ (“fullness”). Cognate with German Fülle.
Etymology 3
See thill.
Etymology 4
From a medieval diminutive of the given name Philip.