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spill

[spil]

Origin

verb (used with object)

to cause or allow to run or fall from a container, especially accidentally or wastefully: to spill a bag of marbles; to spill milk.

to shed (blood), as in killing or wounding.

to scatter: to spill papers all over everything.

Nautical.

to let the wind out of (a sail).

to lose (wind) from a sail.

to cause to fall from a horse, vehicle, or the like: His horse spilled him.

EXPAND

Informal. to divulge, disclose, or tell: Don't spill the secret.

COLLAPSE

verb (used without object)

(of a liquid, loose particles, etc.) to run or escape from a container, especially by accident or in careless handling.

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Spill is one of our favorite verbs.

So is bowdlerise. Does it mean:

to flee; abscond:

to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.

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noun

a spilling, as of liquid.

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.

EXPAND

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.

COLLAPSE

Idiom

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

Related forms

spill·a·ble, adjective, noun

non·spill·a·ble, adjective

un·spilled, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged

noun

a splinter.

a slender piece of wood or of twisted paper, for lighting candles, lamps, etc.

a peg made of metal.

a small pin for stopping a cask; spile.

Mining. forepole.

Origin:
1250–1300; Middle English spille < ?

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To spill

Collins

World English Dictionary

spill¹ (spɪl)

—vb (when intr, usually foll by from, out of, etc) , spills, spilling, spilt, spilled
1.	to fall or cause to fall from or as from a container, esp unintentionally
2.	to disgorge (contents, occupants, etc) or (of contents, occupants, etc) to be disgorged: the car spilt its passengers onto the road; the crowd spilt out of the theatre
3.	to shed (blood)
4.	informal Also: spill the beans to disclose something confidential
5.	nautical to let (wind) escape from a sail or (of the wind) to escape from a sail

—n
6.	informal a fall or tumble
7.	short for spillway
8.	a spilling of liquid, etc, or the amount spilt
9.	(Austral) the declaring of several political jobs vacant when one higher up becomes so: the Prime Minister's resignation could mean a Cabinet spill

[Old English spillan to destroy; related to spildan, Old High German spaltan to split; see spoil]

'spiller¹

—n

spill² (spɪl)

—n
1.	a splinter of wood or strip of twisted paper with which pipes, fires, etc, are lit
2.	a small peg or rod made of metal

[C13: of Germanic origin; compare Old High German spilla, Middle Dutch spile stake]

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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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

Slang Dictionary

spill definition

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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