fill
Americanverb (used with object)
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fills,
present (3rd person singular)
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filled,
past participle, past
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filling
present participle
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to make full; put as much as can be held into.
to fill a jar with water.
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to occupy to the full capacity.
Water filled the basin.
The crowd filled the hall.
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to supply to an extreme degree or plentifully.
to fill a house with furniture;
to fill the heart with joy.
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to satisfy fully the hunger of; satiate.
The roast beef filled the diners.
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to put into a receptacle.
to fill sand into a pail.
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to be plentiful throughout.
Fish filled the rivers.
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to extend throughout; pervade completely.
The odor filled the room.
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to furnish with an occupant.
The landlord filled the vacancy yesterday.
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to provide (an office or opening) with an incumbent.
The company is eager to fill the controllership.
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to occupy and perform the duties of (a vacancy, position, post, etc.).
They have already found someone to fill the position.
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to supply the requirements or contents of (an order), as for goods; execute.
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to supply (a blank space) with written matter, decorative work, etc.
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to meet satisfactorily, as requirements.
This book fills a great need.
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to make up, compound, or otherwise provide the contents of (a medical prescription).
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to stop up or close (a cavity, hole, etc.).
to fill a tooth.
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Cooking. to insert a filling into.
to fill cupcakes with custard.
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Nautical.
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to distend (a sail) by pressure of the wind so as to impart headway to a vessel.
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to brace (a yard) so that the sail will catch the wind on its after side.
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to adulterate.
to fill soaps with water.
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Civil Engineering, Building Trades. to build up the level of (an area) with earth, stones, etc.
verb (used without object)
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fills,
present (3rd person singular)
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filled,
past participle, past
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filling
present participle
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to become full.
The hall filled rapidly.
Our eyes filled with tears.
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to increase in atmospheric pressure.
a filling cyclone.
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to become distended, as sails with the wind.
noun
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a full supply; enough to satisfy want or desire.
to eat one's fill.
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an amount of something sufficient for filling; charge.
The brigade had only one quarter of a fill of fuel.
He begged a fill of tobacco for his pipe.
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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.
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the feed and water in the digestive tract of a livestock animal, especially that consumed before marketing.
verb phrase
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fill out
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to complete (a document, list, etc.) by supplying missing or desired information.
It takes about 35 minutes to fill out the forms for hospital admission.
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to become larger, fuller, or rounder, as the figure.
The children have begun to fill out since I saw them last.
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fill up
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to fill completely.
to fill up a glass;
to fill up a fuel tank.
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to become completely filled.
The riverbed filled up as a result of the steady rains.
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fill in
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to supply missing or desired information.
He suggested you fill in the facts of your business experience.
For each sentence, fill in the blank with the correct word.
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to complete by adding detail, as a design or drawing.
to fill in a sketch with shadow.
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to substitute for.
to fill in for a colleague who is ill.
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to fill with some material.
to fill in a crack with putty.
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Informal. to supply (someone) with information.
Please fill me in on the morning news.
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fill away
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to fall off the wind and proceed on a board.
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to brace the yards, so that sails that have been aback will stand full.
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idioms
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fill and stand on, (of a sailing vessel) to proceed on a tack after being hove to or halted facing the wind; fill away.
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fill the bill. bill.
verb
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(also intr) to make or become full
to fill up a bottle
the bath fills in two minutes
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to occupy the whole of
the party filled two floors of the house
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to plug (a gap, crevice, cavity, etc)
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to meet (a requirement or need) satisfactorily
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to cover (a page or blank space) with writing, drawing, etc
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to hold and perform the duties of (an office or position)
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to appoint or elect an occupant to (an office or position)
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building trades to build up (ground) with fill
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(also intr) to swell or cause to swell with wind, as in manoeuvring the sails of a sailing vessel
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to increase the bulk of by adding an inferior substance
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poker to complete (a full house, etc) by drawing the cards needed
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to put together the necessary materials for (a prescription or order)
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informal to serve or perform adequately
noun
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material such as gravel, stones, etc, used to bring an area of ground up to a required level
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the quantity needed to satisfy one
to eat your fill
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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fillsimple
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fillssimple
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have filledperfect
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has filledperfect
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am fillingprogressive
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are fillingprogressive
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is fillingprogressive
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have been fillingperfect progressive
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has been fillingperfect progressive
Past
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filledsimple
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had filledperfect
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was fillingprogressive
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were fillingprogressive
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had been fillingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of fill
First recorded before 900; Middle English fillen, fullen, fellen, Old English fyllan; cognate with German füllen, Gothic fulljan “to make full”; see origin at full 1
Explanation
When you fill something, you add to it until it's full, or has enough. When your car's almost out of gas, you have to fill the tank at a gas station. You can fill a bathtub with hot water and bubbles, but there's also a figurative way to fill: "Scary movies fill me with anxiety," or "Traveling fills me with a sense of adventure." When the smell of chopped raw onions fills the air in your kitchen, your eyes might reflexively fill with tears. When fill is a noun, it means "something that fills a space."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The process, guided by the app, is relatively straightforward: fill the test with saliva by sucking on it for 60 seconds, wait 20 minutes, scan the test, get results.
From Slate ● Oct. 9, 2026
It looks better, I suppose, to have a thousand people kept from entering a venue than seating them in a spacious arena he can no longer fill.
From Salon ● Oct. 9, 2026
Tens of thousands of runners fill the streets with spectators cheering them on in each of the city’s boroughs during the annual New York City Marathon, taking place on Nov. 1.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
The “Crazy Rich Asians” series could fill the void left by the onetime promise of a “Crazy Rich Asians” sequel.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
Gingersnipes’s eyes widened as she understood that this was her job now—a fact that seemed to fill her with pride and panic all at once.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Most fellow farmers "think I am crazy", she said, but reviving the land "fills us with joy".
From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026
In his new book, Kevin Roose fills out an anecdote previously relayed in this column.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
And the diesel tax is one of the taxes that fills the Highway Trust Fund.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
Fed by a local river, it fills through the winter and then can be used in the summer.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
The list of good sounds fills me up as much as pumpkin pie.
From "Muffled" by Jennifer Gennari
High school sports programs are filled with dozens of volunteers — manning the snack bar, taking tickets, helping provide security, cleaning floors, carrying equipment and taking statistics.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026
Moises Villasenor, 72, said he was "a little worried" as he filled sand bags to protect his small hotel, situated about three blocks from the seafront.
From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026
Questions are also being asked about major security lapses, including how the attacker was recruited by Flydubai and given clearance to fly a plane filled with Israelis to Tel Aviv.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
Oura rings, Whoop bands and Type A personalities filled the gymnasium-like room.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
Harry filled his mind—her braids, the deep warm glow of her skin, her smile —all of it coming together like a mist until she was the only thing he could picture.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Now, demographic trends are filling those empty rooms.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu set out a timetable on Sunday urging local authorities to prioritise filling gaps left by long-term teacher absences and unfilled posts.
From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026
Mostly the Murray study consisted of interviews and the filling out of pencil-and-paper personality tests.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026
Watt, who has been filling in for Romo as the color commentator on CBS Sports’ lead NFL broadcast team, will continue in the role for the remainder of the season.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
Dropping to my knees, I started filling my pockets with small rocks.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
