fill

[fil]
verb (used with object)
1.
to make full; put as much as can be held into: to fill a jar with water.
2.
to occupy to the full capacity: Water filled the basin. The crowd filled the hall.
3.
to supply to an extreme degree or plentifully: to fill a house with furniture; to fill the heart with joy.
4.
to satisfy fully the hunger of; satiate: The roast beef filled the diners.
5.
to put into a receptacle: to fill sand into a pail.
6.
to be plentiful throughout: Fish filled the rivers.
7.
to extend throughout; pervade completely: The odor filled the room.
8.
to furnish with an occupant: The landlord filled the vacancy yesterday.
9.
to provide (an office or opening) with an incumbent: The company is eager to fill the controllership.
10.
to occupy and perform the duties of (a vacancy, position, post, etc.).
11.
to supply the requirements or contents of (an order), as for goods; execute.
12.
to supply (a blank space) with written matter, decorative work, etc.
13.
to meet satisfactorily, as requirements: This book fills a great need.
14.
to make up, compound, or otherwise provide the contents of (a medical prescription).
15.
to stop up or close (a cavity, hole, etc.): to fill a tooth.
16.
Cookery. to insert a filling into: to fill cupcakes with custard.
17.
Nautical.
a.
to distend (a sail) by pressure of the wind so as to impart headway to a vessel.
b.
to brace (a yard) so that the sail will catch the wind on its after side.
18.
to adulterate: to fill soaps with water.
19.
Civil Engineering, Building Trades. to build up the level of (an area) with earth, stones, etc.
verb (used without object)
20.
to become full: The hall filled rapidly. Our eyes filled with tears.
21.
to increase in atmospheric pressure: a filling cyclone.
22.
to become distended, as sails with the wind.
00:10
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noun
23.
a full supply; enough to satisfy want or desire: to eat one's fill.
24.
an amount of something sufficient for filling; charge.
25.
Civil Engineering, Building Trades. a quantity of earth, stones, etc., for building up the level of an area of ground: These houses were built on fill. Compare backfill.
26.
the feed and water in the digestive tract of a livestock animal, especially that consumed before marketing.
Verb phrases
27.
fill away, Nautical.
a.
to fall off the wind and proceed on a board.
b.
to brace the yards, so that sails that have been aback will stand full.
28.
fill in,
a.
to supply missing or desired information: Fill in the facts of your business experience.
b.
to complete by adding detail, as a design or drawing: to fill in a sketch with shadow.
c.
to substitute for: to fill in for a colleague who is ill.
d.
to fill with some material: to fill in a crack with putty.
e.
Informal. to supply (someone) with information: Please fill me in on the morning news.
29.
fill out,
a.
to complete (a document, list, etc.) by supplying missing or desired information.
b.
to become larger, fuller, or rounder, as the figure: The children have begun to fill out since I saw them last.
30.
fill up,
a.
to fill completely: to fill up a glass; to fill up a fuel tank.
b.
to become completely filled: The riverbed filled up as a result of the steady rains.
Idioms
31.
fill and stand on, Nautical. (of a sailing vessel) to proceed on a tack after being hove to or halted facing the wind; fill away.
32.
fill the bill. bill1 ( def 16 ).
Origin:
before 900; Middle English fillen, Old English fyllan; cognate with German füllen, Gothic fulljan to make full; see full1

Related forms
fill·a·ble, adjective
half-filled, adjective
un·filled, adjective
well-filled, adjective

Synonyms
2. crowd, pack, jam, cram. 13. satisfy, answer, fulfill.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To fill out
Collins
World English Dictionary
fill (fɪl) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—vb (often foll by up)
1.  (also intr) to make or become full: to fill up a bottle; the bath fills in two minutes
2.  to occupy the whole of: the party filled two floors of the house
3.  to plug (a gap, crevice, cavity, etc)
4.  to meet (a requirement or need) satisfactorily
5.  to cover (a page or blank space) with writing, drawing, etc
6.  to hold and perform the duties of (an office or position)
7.  to appoint or elect an occupant to (an office or position)
8.  building trades to build up (ground) with fill
9.  (also intr) to swell or cause to swell with wind, as in manoeuvring the sails of a sailing vessel
10.  to increase the bulk of by adding an inferior substance
11.  poker to complete (a full house, etc) by drawing the cards needed
12.  chiefly (US), (Canadian) to put together the necessary materials for (a prescription or order)
13.  informal fill the bill to serve or perform adequately
 
—n
14.  material such as gravel, stones, etc, used to bring an area of ground up to a required level
15.  one's fill the quantity needed to satisfy one: to eat your fill
 
[Old English fyllan; related to Old Frisian fella, Old Norse fylla, Gothic fulljan, Old High German fullen; see full1, fulfil]

fill out
 
—vb
1.  to make or become fuller, thicker, or rounder: her figure has filled out since her marriage
2.  to make more substantial: the writers were asked to fill their stories out
3.  (tr) to complete (a form, application, etc)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

fill
O.E. fyllan, from P.Gmc. *fullijan (cf. O.S. fulljan, O.N. fylla, O.Fris. fella, Du. vullen, Ger. füllen "to fill"), a derivative of adj. *fullaz "full." The related noun meaning "a full supply" is M.E. fille, from O.E. fylle. To fill the bill (1882) was originally U.S. theatrical slang, in reference
to a star whose name would be the only one on a show's poster. Related: Filled; filling.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

fill out

  1. Complete by supplying required information, especially in writing. For example, Please fill out the application form, or I don't quite understand this drawing, so fill out the details. [Late 1800s]

  2. Become enlarged, distended, rounded in outline. For example, The wind filled out the sails, or He's put on weight and really filled out. Applied to objects, this expression dates from about 1700, but to persons or animals becoming fatter, only from the late 1800s.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Example sentences
Visitors are given the opportunity to fill out a questionnaire, so that an
  expert can personally select a scent for them.
When making a complaint, it is important that you fill out the complaint form
  as completely as possible.
The researchers also had supervisors fill out a different survey, about their
  stress levels and weekly exercise.
Instead, make sure to also fill out the hotel feedback survey.
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