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Spill

//spɪl// noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Noun

1
A mess of something that has been dropped. countable
2
a sudden drop from an upright position wordnet
3
A fall or stumble.
"The bruise is from a bad spill he had last week."
4
the act of allowing a fluid to escape wordnet
5
A small stick or piece of paper used to light a candle, cigarette etc by the transfer of a flame from a fire.
"“In a moment, he has torn the letter into long thin strips, and rolling them up into spills he thrusts them hurriedly in amongst the other spills in the vase on the mantle-piece.”"

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6
a channel that carries excess water over or around a dam or other obstruction wordnet
7
A slender piece of anything.; A peg or pin for plugging a hole, as in a cask'; a spile.
8
liquid that is spilled wordnet
9
A slender piece of anything.; A metallic rod or pin.
10
A slender piece of anything.; A spillikin.
"A tool with which to extract the spills from the pile."
11
A slender piece of anything.; A splinter caught in the skin. Shropshire
12
One of the thick laths or poles driven horizontally ahead of the main timbering in advancing a level in loose ground.
13
The situation where sound is picked up by a microphone from a source other than that which is intended.
14
A small sum of money. obsolete
"Spill or Sportule for the same from the credulous Laity"
15
A declaration that the leadership of a parliamentary party is vacant, and open for re-election. Short form of leadership spill. Australian

Slang

1
To reveal gossip or information. slang, internet, 2010s-2020s
"Spill what happened after the party."

Verb

1
To drop something so that it spreads out or makes a mess; to accidentally pour. transitive
"I spilled some sticky juice on the kitchen floor."
2
reduce the pressure of wind on (a sail) wordnet
3
To spread out or fall out, as above. intransitive
"Some sticky juice spilled onto the kitchen floor."
4
reveal information wordnet
5
To overflow out of a designated area. intransitive
"The crowd spilled onto Maple Avenue."

Show 16 more definitions

6
cause or allow (a solid substance) to flow or run out or over wordnet
7
To drop something that was intended to be caught. transitive
"That should have been that, but Hart caught a dose of the Hennessey wobbles and spilled Adlene Guedioura's long-range shot."
8
pour out in drops or small quantities or as if in drops or small quantities wordnet
9
To mar; to damage; to destroy by misuse; to waste.
"They [the colours] disfigure the stuff and spill the whole workmanship."
10
cause or allow (a liquid substance) to run or flow from a container wordnet
11
To be destroyed, ruined, or wasted; to come to ruin; to perish; to waste. intransitive, obsolete
"That thou wilt suffer innocence to spill."
12
flow, run or fall out and become lost wordnet
13
To overflow or flow out, over or off something. also, figuratively, intransitive
"Liverpool Street's 1985-92 remodelling by the British Rail Architects' Department (under project lead Nick Derbyshire) had carefully followed original 1870s detailing, with the concourse designed to allow natural light to spill into the station."
14
To cause or flow out and be lost or wasted; to shed. transitive
"to revenge his Blood, ſo juſtly ſpilt, / VVhat is it leſs then to partake his guilt?"
15
To cause to be thrown from a mount, a carriage, etc. obsolete, slang, transitive
"Then, not thirty feet beyond, a sudden panicky lunge to the side by his horse spilled him from the saddle."
16
To cover or decorate with slender pieces of wood, metal, ivory, etc.; to inlay.
"And all the others pavement were with yvory spilt"
17
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.
18
To open the leadership of a parliamentary party for re-election. Australian, transitive
19
To reveal information to an uninformed party. ambitransitive
"He spilled his guts out to his new psychologist."
20
To come undone.
21
To express (something), especially repeatedly or floridly; to be expressed. transitive
"He spilled insults about the other team."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English spillen, from Old English spillan, spildan (“to kill, destroy, waste”), from Proto-West Germanic *spilþijan, from Proto-Germanic *spilþijaną (“to spoil, kill, murder”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pel- (“to sunder, split, rend, tear”). Cognate with Dutch spillen (“to use needlessly, waste”), French gaspiller ("to waste, squander" < Germanic), Bavarian spillen (“to split, cleave, splinter”), Danish spilde (“to spill, waste”), Swedish spilla (“to spill, waste”), Icelandic spilla (“to contaminate, spoil”). See also spool.

Etymology 2

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