filling

[fil-ing]

noun

1. an act or instance of filling.

2. something that is put in to fill something else.

   They used sand as filling for the depression.

3. Dentistry.,  a substance such as cement, amalgam, gold, or the like, used to fill a cavity caused by decay in a tooth.

4. a food mixture that goes into something, as if to fill it.

   sandwich filling; pie filling.

5. Also called pick, weft, woof. Textiles.,  yarn carried by the shuttle and interlacing at right angles with the warp in woven cloth.

filling

/ ˈfɪlɪŋ /

noun

1. the substance or thing used to fill a space or container

   pie filling

2. dentistry

   1. any of various substances (metal, plastic, etc) for inserting into the prepared cavity of a tooth

   2. the cavity of a tooth so filled

3. textiles another term for weft

adjective

1. (of food or a meal) substantial and satisfying

Other Word Forms

• self-filling adjective
• unfilling adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of filling¹

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; fill, -ing ¹

Example Sentences

But you both miss a solution: the role older adults can play in filling such posts.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

He doesn’t actually understand the corporate world but treats it like a game, filling out forms, writing anodyne requests to lawyers and other middlemen, steadily accumulating positions in public companies.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Instead of auditing payroll, they spent the afternoon filling in application forms.

Read more on BBC

In West Virginia, relatives and friends are filling text chains with any updates they can get.

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Layer pound cake with thin ribbons of pumpkin pie filling and a simple maple-sweetened cream cheese.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• dressing 
• layer 
• mixture 
• stuffing