Nearby Words
verb
a simple past tense and past participle of spill1.
Related forms
un·spilt, adjective
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Spilt
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is peculate. Does it mean:
| to steal or take dishonestly (money, esp. public funds, or property entrusted to one's care); embezzle. |
| to introduce subtleties into or argue subtly about. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
verb (used with object)
1.
to cause or allow to run or fall from a container, especially accidentally or wastefully: to spill a bag of marbles; to spill milk.
2.
to shed (blood), as in killing or wounding.
3.
to scatter: to spill papers all over everything.
4.
Nautical.
a.
to let the wind out of (a sail).
b.
to lose (wind) from a sail.
5.
EXPANDto cause to fall from a horse, vehicle, or the like: His horse spilled him.
6.
COLLAPSEInformal. to divulge, disclose, or tell: Don't spill the secret.
verb (used without object)
7.
(of a liquid, loose particles, etc.) to run or escape from a container, especially by accident or in careless handling.
noun
Idiom8.
a spilling, as of liquid.
9.
a quantity spilled.
10.
the mark made by something spilled.
11.
a spillway.
12.
EXPANDAlso called spill light. superfluous or useless light rays, as from theatrical or photographic lighting units.
15.
spill the beans. bean (def. 11).
Origin:
before 950; 1920–25 for def. 6; Middle English spillen to kill, destroy, shed (blood), Old English spillan to kill; cognate with Middle High German, Middle Dutch spillen; akin to spoil
before 950; 1920–25 for def. 6; Middle English spillen to kill, destroy, shed (blood), Old English spillan to kill; cognate with Middle High German, Middle Dutch spillen; akin to spoil
Related forms
spill·a·ble, adjective, noun
non·spill·a·ble, adjective
un·spilled, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To Spilt
Collins
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
spill
O.E. spillan "destroy, kill," variant of spildan, from P.Gmc. *spelthijanan (cf. O.H.G. spildan "to spill," O.S. spildian, O.N. spilla "to destroy," M.Du. spillen "to waste"), from PIE *spel- "to split, break off" (cf. M.Du. spalden, O.H.G. spaltan "to split;" for further cognates, see
EXPAND spoil). Sense of "let (liquid) fall or run out" developed c.1340 from use of the word in ref. to shedding blood (c.1125). Intrans. sense is from 1655. The noun is first recorded 1845, originally "a throw from a horse." Spill the beans first recorded 1919; to cry for spilt milk (usually with negative) is attested from 1738. Shakespeare used spilth "that which has spilled, act of spilling" (1607); modern spillage is attested from 1934. Spillover is from 1940; spillway is from 1889.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary
spill definition
|
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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