fill

[fil]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fill ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to make full; put as much as can be held into: to fill a jar with water.

to occupy to the full capacity: Water filled the basin. The crowd filled the hall.

to supply to an extreme degree or plentifully: to fill a house with furniture; to fill the heart with joy.

to satisfy fully the hunger of; satiate: The roast beef filled the diners.

to put into a receptacle: to fill sand into a pail.

to be plentiful throughout: Fish filled the rivers.

to extend throughout; pervade completely: The odor filled the room.

to furnish with an occupant: The landlord filled the vacancy yesterday.

to provide (an office or opening) with an incumbent: The company is eager to fill the controllership.

to occupy and perform the duties of (a vacancy, position, post, etc.).

to supply the requirements or contents of (an order), as for goods; execute.

to supply (a blank space) with written matter, decorative work, etc.

to meet satisfactorily, as requirements: This book fills a great need.

to make up, compound, or otherwise provide the contents of (a medical prescription).

to stop up or close (a cavity, hole, etc.): to fill a tooth.

Cookery. to insert a filling into: to fill cupcakes with custard.

Nautical.

to distend (a sail) by pressure of the wind so as to impart headway to a vessel.
to brace (a yard) so that the sail will catch the wind on its after side.

to adulterate: to fill soaps with water.

Civil Engineering, Building Trades. to build up the level of (an area) with earth, stones, etc.

verb (used without object)

to become full: The hall filled rapidly. Our eyes filled with tears.

to increase in atmospheric pressure: a filling cyclone.

to become distended, as sails with the wind.

noun

a full supply; enough to satisfy want or desire: to eat one's fill.

an amount of something sufficient for filling; charge.

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.

the feed and water in the digestive tract of a livestock animal, especially that consumed before marketing.

Verb Phrases

fill away, Nautical.

to fall off the wind and proceed on a board.
to brace the yards, so that sails that have been aback will stand full.

fill in,

to supply missing or desired information: Fill in the facts of your business experience.
to complete by adding detail, as a design or drawing: to fill in a sketch with shadow.
to substitute for: to fill in for a colleague who is ill.
to fill with some material: to fill in a crack with putty.
Informal.to supply (someone) with information: Please fill me in on the morning news.

fill out,

to complete (a document, list, etc.) by supplying missing or desired information.
to become larger, fuller, or rounder, as the figure: The children have begun to fill out since I saw them last.

fill up,

to fill completely: to fill up a glass; to fill up a fuel tank.
to become completely filled: The riverbed filled up as a result of the steady rains.

Idioms

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.

fill the bill. bill¹(def 16).

Origin of fill

before 900; Middle English fillen, Old English fyllan; cognate with German füllen, Gothic fulljan to make full; see full¹

Related formsfill·a·ble, adjectivehalf-filled, adjectiveun·filled, adjectivewell-filled, adjective

Synonyms for fill

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fill ON THESAURUS.COM

2. crowd, pack, jam, cram. 13. satisfy, answer, fulfill.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for filled

full, brimming, replete, permeated

Examples from the Web for filled

Contemporary Examples of filled

Mr. Bachner stayed because he realized the city is filled with artisans and the possibilities fascinated him.
The Photographer Who Gave Up Manhattan for Marrakech
Liza Foreman
January 6, 2015
Instead of lights and gifts, this one is filled with broken promises and guilt.
Why Your New Year’s Diet Will Fail
Carrie Arnold
December 30, 2014
If 2014 was any indication, the coming TV schedule is sure to be filled with plenty of water-cooler shows.
Four TV Shows We Can’t Wait to Return In 2015
DISH
December 22, 2014
The forests were lush and filled with life, from giant snakes to monkeys.
The Congo's Forgotten Colonial Getaway
Nina Strochlic
December 18, 2014
Veterinarians may continue prescribing the old-fashioned way, without exemption, as can prescriptions to be filled out of state.
No More Paper Prescriptions: Docs Fight Fraud by Going Electronic
Dale Eisinger
December 18, 2014

Historical Examples of filled

But there is one subject, on which my mind is filled with foreboding.
Philothea
Lydia Maria Child
They filled two bottles they had remaining with the precious fluid.
Brave and Bold
Horatio Alger
There was no water at Point Malcolm, but luckily we had filled our canteens.
Explorations in Australia
John Forrest
Filled the water-cans, and got everything ready for a start to-morrow morning.
Explorations in Australia
John Forrest
This post was filled in Oldport, in those days, by my cousin Kate.
Malbone
Thomas Wentworth Higginson

British Dictionary definitions for filled

fill

verb (mainly tr often foll by up)

(also intr) to make or become fullto fill up a bottle; the bath fills in two minutes

to occupy the whole ofthe party filled two floors of the house

to plug (a gap, crevice, cavity, etc)

to meet (a requirement or need) satisfactorily

to cover (a page or blank space) with writing, drawing, etc

to hold and perform the duties of (an office or position)

to appoint or elect an occupant to (an office or position)

building trades to build up (ground) with fill

(also intr) to swell or cause to swell with wind, as in manoeuvring the sails of a sailing vessel

to increase the bulk of by adding an inferior substance

poker to complete (a full house, etc) by drawing the cards needed

mainly US and Canadian to put together the necessary materials for (a prescription or order)

fill the bill informal to serve or perform adequately

noun

material such as gravel, stones, etc, used to bring an area of ground up to a required level

one's fill the quantity needed to satisfy oneto eat your fill

See also fill away, fill in, fill out, fill up

Word Origin for fill

Old English fyllan; related to Old Frisian fella, Old Norse fylla, Gothic fulljan, Old High German fullen; see full 1, fulfil

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for filled

fill

"a full supply," mid-13c., fille, from Old English fylle, from Proto-Germanic *fullin- (cf. Old High German fulli, German Fülle, Old Norse fyllr), noun of state from *fullaz "full" (see full (adj.)). Meaning "extra material in music" is from 1934.

fill

Old English fyllan "fill up, replenish, satisfy," from Proto-Germanic *fullijan (cf. Old Saxon fulljan, Old Norse fylla, Old Frisian fella, Dutch vullen, German füllen "to fill"), a derivative of adj. *fullaz "full" (see full (adj.)). Related: Filled.

To fill the bill (1882) originally was U.S. theatrical slang, in reference to a star whose name would be the only one on a show's poster. To fill out "write in required matter" is recorded from 1880. Fill-in "substitute" (n.) is from 1918.

Idioms and Phrases with filled

fill

In addition to the idioms beginning with fill

filled to the brim
fill in
fill out
fill someone's shoes
fill the bill

also see:

back and fill
get one's fill of

Also see underfull.