refill
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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refills,
present (3rd person singular)
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refilled,
past participle, past
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refilling
present participle
noun
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refills
plural
verb
noun
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a replacement for a consumable substance in a permanent container
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a second or subsequent filling
a refill at the petrol station
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informal another drink to replace one already drunk
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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refillsimple
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refillssimple
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have refilledperfect
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has refilledperfect
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am refillingprogressive
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are refillingprogressive
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is refillingprogressive
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have been refillingperfect progressive
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has been refillingperfect progressive
Past
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refilledsimple
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had refilledperfect
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was refillingprogressive
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were refillingprogressive
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had been refillingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of refill
Explanation
To refill is to fill something again, the way you refill your motorcycle's gas tank or refill your cat's water bowl when you notice it's almost empty. You can also refill a prescription, by going to the pharmacy and getting another month's worth of medication. The bottle of pills itself can also be called a refill. People commonly use this word as a noun for the act of filling up, too: "Hey, grab that waiter and ask for a refill on the Cokes!"
Vocabulary lists containing refill
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:
It cautioned that the "window for sufficient refill is closing".
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
After rinsing the pipe, workers will refill it with clean water, refill the hole and repave the street.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026
Many people ladder their CDs for monthly, quarterly or yearly disbursements so they can continually refill their coffers without having to worry about stock-market volatility.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026
Even as flows from the Middle East return with the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the need to refill inventories is expected to support demand in months ahead.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026
“I didn’t think he even knew Stacie,” she shouted into Serena’s ear when Serena came back to refill her drink.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
I send questions, ask for prescription refills, and am able to look over all my test results quickly and conveniently.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Sampe's team only has two 6,000-litre fire engines, and deploys one at a time while the other refills.
From Barron's ● Sep. 6, 2026
The team defined discontinuation as a gap of more than 60 days between prescription refills.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 16, 2026
Your cistern no longer refills endlessly, but now you have to lift the lid and manually reset it after every flush.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 10, 2026
“They give free refills on chips here,” I tell him.
From "The Fourteenth Goldfish" by Jennifer L. Holm
While Lindy is still hiring coders, it never refilled the marketing roles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
"If it's too late, at least we tried," said a defiant Hugo, 26, as he refilled his water tank.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
Workers have refilled the pipe with water and are now working to repressurize it, officials said Sunday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2026
But not long after the job was complete, the paint began to visibly peel, and the gleaming waters promptly refilled with green pond scum.
From Barron's ● Jun. 21, 2026
When they came, finally, to the pond where he ordinarily refilled his water container and sometimes caught some fish, he found it stagnant.
From "Messenger" by Lois Lowry
"We fear today," said Jeremy Presi, a local business owner volunteering to help firefighters at a water refilling station.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
Energy Secretary Chris Wright has put the cost of refilling it at roughly $20 billion over several years.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
With the replacement pipe in place, workers transitioned to slowly refilling the pipe to restore pressure, disinfecting the water line with chlorine and checking for any leaks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026
“The cistern on my toilet has been constantly refilling and making a hissing noise.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
Dad was refilling his plate with grilled vegetables as I scooped more saffron rice onto my own.
From "Darius the Great Is Not Okay" by Adib Khorram
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.
