spilt

[spilt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR spilt ON THESAURUS.COM

verb

a simple past tense and past participle of spill¹.

Related formsun·spilt, adjective

spill

[spil]

verb (used with object), spilled or spilt, spill·ing.

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.

verb (used without object), spilled or spilt, spill·ing.

(of a liquid, loose particles, etc.) to run or escape from a container, especially by accident or in careless handling.

noun

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.

Idioms

spill the beans. bean(def 11).

spill/toss one's cookies. cookie(def 7).

Origin of spill

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

Related formsspill·a·ble, adjective, nounnon·spill·a·ble, adjectiveun·spilled, adjective

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

Related Words for spilt

sprinkle, stream, squirt, flow, pour, dribble, spray, splash, discharge, overflow, scatter, empty, blow, shed, run, disgorge, splatter, upset, drip, lose

Examples from the Web for spilt

Contemporary Examples of spilt

Communities were spilt into smaller and smaller units, while signs in villages warned against speaking Circassian in public areas.
The Lost Tribe Of Sochi
Peter Schwartzstein
February 9, 2014

Historical Examples of spilt

At dinner she shook and jerked and spilt things worse than ever.
Life and Death of Harriett Frean
May Sinclair
It was this monster that had spilt the pool of blood drying on the floor, near the door.
The Pygmy Planet
John Stewart Williamson
He gulped down a mouthful, and some of it was spilt on his shirt-front.
The Moon and Sixpence
W. Somerset Maugham
A minie drew some blood from me—not much, and spilt in a good cause.
The Long Roll
Mary Johnston
Just then Jowler dropped the basket and spilt her huckleberries.
Little Ferns For Fanny's Little Friends
Fanny Fern

British Dictionary definitions for spilt

spilt

verb

a past tense and past participle of spill 1

spill

verb spills, spilling, spilt or spilled (mainly tr)

(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

noun

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

Derived Formsspiller, noun

Word Origin for spill

Old English spillan to destroy; related to spildan, Old High German spaltan to split; see spoil

spill

noun

a splinter of wood or strip of twisted paper with which pipes, fires, etc, are lit

a small peg or rod made of metal

Word Origin for spill

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 spilt

spill

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.

spill

1845, originally "a throw from a horse," from spill (v.).

Idioms and Phrases with spilt

spill

In addition to the idiom beginning with spill

spill the beans

also see:

shed (spill) blood
take a spill