spill1
[spil]
- to cause or allow to run or fall from a container, especially accidentally or wastefully: to spill a bag of marbles; to spill milk.
- to shed (blood), as in killing or wounding.
- to scatter: to spill papers all over everything.
- Nautical.
- to let the wind out of (a sail).
- to lose (wind) from a sail.
- to cause to fall from a horse, vehicle, or the like: His horse spilled him.
- Informal. to divulge, disclose, or tell: Don't spill the secret.
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- (of a liquid, loose particles, etc.) to run or escape from a container, especially by accident or in careless handling.
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- a spilling, as of liquid.
- a quantity spilled.
- the mark made by something spilled.
- a spillway.
- Also called spill light. superfluous or useless light rays, as from theatrical or photographic lighting units.
- Theater. an area of a stage illuminated by spill light.
- a throw or fall from a horse, vehicle, or the like: She broke her arm in a spill.
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- spill the beans. bean(def 11).
- spill/toss one's cookies. cookie(def 7).
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Origin of spill1
before 950; 1920–25 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
spill2
[spil]
- a splinter.
- a slender piece of wood or of twisted paper, for lighting candles, lamps, etc.
- a peg made of metal.
- a small pin for stopping a cask; spile.
- Mining. forepole.
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Origin of spill2
1250–1300; Middle English spille < ?
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
sprinklestreamsquirtflowpourdribblespraysplashdischargeoverflowscatteremptyblowshedrundisgorgesplatterupsetdriploseExamples from the Web for spill
Contemporary Examples
A new paper outlines five steps required for a virus to ‘spill over’ from bats to humans.
Since the spill, the number of unemployed residents in Louisiana and Alabama has only increased.
Bewildered adolescents, many of them accompanied by equally confused guardians, spill out into the hallway.
Nor is it the way the gunman manages not to spill a drop of the drink in his other hand as he commits all this savagery.
Zaun, who was starting to look like the favorite, took the stage to cheers and vowed “I will spill my blood to save the unborn.”
Historical Examples
It simply must be done to preserve the equilibrium and avoid a spill.
Flying MachinesW.J. Jackman and Thos. H. Russell
Spill it all out, I say, an' make the world smell as sweet as honey.
Tiverton TalesAlice Brown
But I think they'll a' gang daft, and spill bluid like wather!'
The Life And Adventures Of Nicholas NicklebyCharles Dickens
“Guess we could spill some of it, sergeant,” he declared meaningly.
The Law-BreakersRidgwell Cullum
One sharp curve in the track and that load will spill all over the place.
Sure Pop and the Safety ScoutsRoy Rutherford Bailey
spill1
- (when intr, usually foll by from, out of, etc) to fall or cause to fall from or as from a container, esp unintentionally
- to disgorge (contents, occupants, etc) or (of contents, occupants, etc) to be disgorgedthe car spilt its passengers onto the road; the crowd spilt out of the theatre
- to shed (blood)
- Also: spill the beans informal to disclose something confidential
- nautical to let (wind) escape from a sail or (of the wind) to escape from a sail
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- informal a fall or tumble
- short for spillway
- a spilling of liquid, etc, or the amount spilt
- Australian the declaring of several political jobs vacant when one higher up becomes sothe Prime Minister's resignation could mean a Cabinet spill
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Word Origin
Old English spillan to destroy; related to spildan, Old High German spaltan to split; see spoil
spill2
- a splinter of wood or strip of twisted paper with which pipes, fires, etc, are lit
- a small peg or rod made of metal
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Word Origin
C13: of Germanic origin; compare Old High German spilla, Middle Dutch spile stake
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 spill
v.
Old English spillan "destroy, kill," variant of spildan, from Proto-Germanic *spelthijanan (cf. Old High German spildan "to spill," Old Saxon spildian, Old Norse spilla "to destroy," Middle Dutch spillen "to waste"), from PIE *spel- "to split, break off" (cf. Middle Dutch spalden, Old High German spaltan "to split;" for further cognates, see spoil). Related: Spilled; spilling.
Sense of "let (liquid) fall or run out" developed mid-14c. from use of the word in reference to shedding blood (early 12c.). Intransitive sense is from 1650s. Spill the beans recorded by 1910 in a sense of "spoil the situation;" to cry for spilt milk (usually with negative) is attested from 1738.
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n.
1845, originally "a throw from a horse," from spill (v.).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with spill
spill
In addition to the idiom beginning with spill
- spill the beans
also see:
- shed (spill) blood
- take a spill
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.