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spill

 - 9 dictionary results

spill

1  [spil] verb, spilled or spilt, spill⋅ing, noun
Use spill in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to cause or allow to run or fall from a container, esp. 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. to cause to fall from a horse, vehicle, or the like: His horse spilled him.
6. Informal. 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, esp. by accident or in careless handling.
–noun
8. a spilling, as of liquid.
9. a quantity spilled.
10. the mark made by something spilled.
11. a spillway.
12. Also called spill light. superfluous or useless light rays, as from theatrical or photographic lighting units.
13. Theater. an area of a stage illuminated by spill light.
14. a throw or fall from a horse, vehicle, or the like: She broke her arm in a spill.
—Idiom
15. spill the beans. bean (def. 11).
Origin:
bef. 950; 1920–25 for def. 6; ME spillen to kill, destroy, shed (blood), OE spillan to kill; c. MHG, MD spillen; akin to spoil

Related forms:
spill⋅a⋅ble, adjective, noun

spill

2  [spil]
–noun
1. a splinter.
2. a slender piece of wood or of twisted paper, for lighting candles, lamps, etc.
3. a peg made of metal.
4. a small pin for stopping a cask; spile.
5. Mining. forepole.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME spille < ?

fore⋅pole

  [n. fawr-pohl, fohr-; v. fawr-pohl, fohr-] noun, verb, -poled, -pol⋅ing. Mining.
–noun
1. Also called spile, spill. any of a number of boards or timbers driven forward on top of a set to protect miners lengthening a tunnel from falling debris.
–verb (used with object)
2. to reinforce (the end of an excavated tunnel) with forepoles.
Origin:
1870–75, Americanism; fore- + pole 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To spill
spill 1   (spĭl)   
v.   spilled or spilt (spĭlt), spill·ing, spills

v.   tr.

  1. To cause or allow (a substance) to run or fall out of a container.

  2. To scatter (objects) from containment: spilled the armload of books on the desk.

  3. To shed (blood).

  4. Nautical

    1. To relieve the pressure of wind on (a sail).

    2. To cause or allow (wind) to be lost from a sail.

  5. To cause to fall: The rider was spilled by his horse.

  6. Informal To disclose (something previously unknown); divulge: The witness spilled all the details about the suspect.

v.   intr.

  1. To run or fall out of a container or containment.

  2. To come to the ground suddenly and involuntarily.

  3. To pour out or spread beyond limits: Fans spilled onto the playing field.

n.  

  1. The act of spilling.

  2. An amount spilled.

  3. A fall, as from a horse.

  4. A spillway.


[Middle English spillen, to shed blood, to spill, from Old English spillan, to kill.]
spill'er n.
Word History: Crying over spilt milk is pointless because it cannot undo the damage, which in the literal sense of this phrase is trivial; but in the Middle Ages spill was used for actions that seem to demand tears. Old English spillan, the ancestor of Modern English spill, meant such things as "to destroy, mutilate, kill." The senses "to waste" and "to shed blood" connect these earlier uses with substances falling out of containers, often wastefully. But many people, castles, and fortunes were "spilled" before people started spilling milk, at least judging from the recorded evidence. Spill is first recorded in the sense "to cause a substance to fall out of a container" in a work composed in the 14th century. Since then most of the senses having to do with violent destruction have become obsolete or archaic, but we still speak of spilling blood, as well as milk, water, and gravy.
spill 2   (spĭl)   
n.  

  1. A piece of wood or rolled paper used to light a fire.

  2. A small peg or rod, especially one used as a plug; a spile.


[Middle English spille.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
spill

  1. in.
    to confess. (Underworld.) : The cops tried to get her to spill, but she just sat there.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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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 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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Computing Dictionary

spill
register spilling

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Idioms & Phrases

spill

In addition to the idiom beginning with spill, also see shed (spill) blood; take a spill.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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