spill
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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spills,
present (3rd person singular)
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spilled,
past participle, past
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spilt,
past participle, past
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spilling
present participle
-
to cause or allow to run or fall from a container, especially accidentally or wastefully.
to spill a bag of marbles; to spill milk.
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to shed (blood), as in killing or wounding.
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to scatter.
to spill papers all over everything.
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Nautical.
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to let the wind out of (a sail).
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to lose (wind) from a sail.
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to cause to fall from a horse, vehicle, or the like.
His horse spilled him.
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Informal. to divulge, disclose, or tell.
Don't spill the secret.
verb (used without object)
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spills,
present (3rd person singular)
-
spilled,
past participle, past
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spilt,
past participle, past
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spilling
present participle
noun
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a spilling, as of liquid.
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a quantity spilled.
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the mark made by something spilled.
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a spillway.
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Also called spill light. superfluous or useless light rays, as from theatrical or photographic lighting units.
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Theater. an area of a stage illuminated by spill light.
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a throw or fall from a horse, vehicle, or the like.
She broke her arm in a spill.
noun
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a splinter.
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a slender piece of wood or of twisted paper, for lighting candles, lamps, etc.
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a peg made of metal.
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a small pin for stopping a cask; spile.
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Mining. forepole.
verb
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to fall or cause to fall from or as from a container, esp unintentionally
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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
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to shed (blood)
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Also: spill the beans. informal to disclose something confidential
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nautical to let (wind) escape from a sail or (of the wind) to escape from a sail
noun
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informal a fall or tumble
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short for spillway
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a spilling of liquid, etc, or the amount spilt
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the declaring of several political jobs vacant when one higher up becomes so
the Prime Minister's resignation could mean a Cabinet spill
noun
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a splinter of wood or strip of twisted paper with which pipes, fires, etc, are lit
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a small peg or rod made of metal
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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spillsimple
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spillssimple
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have spilledperfect
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have spiltperfect
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has spilledperfect
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has spiltperfect
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am spillingprogressive
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are spillingprogressive
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is spillingprogressive
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have been spillingperfect progressive
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has been spillingperfect progressive
Past
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spilledsimple
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spiltsimple
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had spilledperfect
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had spiltperfect
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was spillingprogressive
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were spillingprogressive
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had been spillingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of spill1
First recorded before 950; 1920–25 spill 1 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
Origin of spill2
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English spille, spil(e); of uncertain origin
Explanation
When liquids spill, they accidentally flow or dribble out of a container. You can also spill solid objects, like when you slip and spill the contents of your backpack all over the sidewalk. When you spill your hot chocolate, the spot it makes where it lands is a spill. The act of spilling it is a spill too: "Sorry about the spill, Grandma." You can take a spill yourself, like when you tumble to the ground from your bike. Spill also means "talk," especially in the context of "spill the beans" or "spill your guts," both basically meaning "tell the whole truth."
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:
And the diesel ban could spill over into the price of other products.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
The researchers identified a large thermal gradient, with temperatures reaching approximately 350 degrees Celsius beside the magma intrusion and falling to about 72 degrees Celsius at an ancient seafloor asphalt spill roughly 300 meters higher.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026
Consider an oil pipeline in California that had been shut down for roughly a decade after a catastrophic spill.
From Slate ● Sep. 25, 2026
But when he opened his mouth and English lyrics started to spill out, he was completely dumbfounded.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
I feel like such a baby about the jawbreaker lump in my throat that feels like it’s gonna dissolve and spill outta my eyes in liquid form.
From "Fast Pitch" by Nic Stone
“California’s beaches, coastal communities, and multi-billion-dollar economy depend on oceans free of oil spills, both now and for future generations.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026
There is an old Yiddish joke: the schlemiel spills the soup; the schlimazel is the person it lands on.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
Global fund managers are being haunted by a new worry — the possibility that bond yields could shoot higher in a “disorderly” manner, stoking volatility that potentially spills over into stocks and the broader economy.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
Like many other internet-fueled food crazes, Cane’s enthusiasm often spills offline in surprisingly tangible ways.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026
The trees are spindly but numerous, and only a few yards in, the pond stops and spills into the creek.
From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson
Outside the venue, that same fan-led energy spilled into the streets, with attendees trading handmade gifts and photo cards - a ritual that has spread to Western arena tours in recent years.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026
Last week, those concerns spilled into the mainstream after the dramatic quitting of Jacob Coxon, a former OpenAI researcher who had gone to Anthropic earlier this year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
The exhibition also spilled outside of the museum.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
Exceptional heat has also spilled over the traditional limits of summer, with high temperatures measured in late May and early September.
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
As he walked down the sloping trail that led past the berry bushes and the tasty grasses and finally spilled out onto the Fabulous Beach, Duane had time to reflect on all that had happened.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
Half-backs Marcus Smith and Jack van Poortvliet both missed out on selection last week and are named on a 6-2 bench spilt.
From BBC ● Feb. 17, 2026
My motto in investing has always been cry over spilt milk, for analyzing errors is how you learn almost everything.
From Barron's ● Dec. 31, 2025
Sewage was spilt for 3.614 million hours in 2024 compared to 3.606 million hours in 2023.
From BBC ● Mar. 27, 2025
Once the milk is spilt, it's almost impossible to get back into the bottle.
From BBC ● Feb. 17, 2024
The smaller squirt spilt his books too as he bent down to help.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
But regardless, this sentiment is spilling into the real world, as a recent Gallup poll showed 71% of Americans opposed construction of the physical manifestation of AI: data centers.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
While energy prices have pushed inflation higher, most policymakers saw few signs so far that higher energy costs are spilling over into everyday prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
That was from the water spilling over a dirt road.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
European spy chiefs worry that Russia's war against Ukraine is increasingly spilling over onto their soil, but Kyiv's Western allies are struggling to come up with countermeasures to halt Moscow's "hybrid" attacks.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
He never paused, the words spilling like overheated water from a beaker.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
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.
