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)
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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:
The invisible labor can spill into strained marriages, chronic stress and the feeling of constantly treading water.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
Some of those viruses, including viruses related to the cause of COVID-19, can spill over into humans.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 12, 2026
These firms have been investing in riskier fixed-income assets, and losses cause by volatility in the interest-rate environment could spill over into the banking sector.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 11, 2026
But high fuel prices can spill over into prices for other items as well.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
Anger flared like an oil spill inside my veins.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
I have loved this sport my entire life, and a version of it that spills into more of the week is, to me, simply more of a good thing.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026
Like many other internet-fueled food crazes, Cane’s enthusiasm often spills offline in surprisingly tangible ways.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026
Fuel spills are also a concern, and several big Western shipping firms including France's CMA-CGM, Switzerland's MSC and Germany's Hapag-Lloyd have already pledged they will not use the Northern Sea Route.
From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026
The project was called off in 2021 following a decade of legal challenges and protests from environmentalists, farmers, Native American groups and others who cited the threat of spills.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
Her hair spills out behind her, waves of red floating in the air as if she were suspended in water.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
“Freedom had infused the spirit of African New Yorkers,” Mr. White observes, “and that spirit spilled over everywhere.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
The exhibition also spilled outside of the museum.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
The air, amber-hued and treacle-thick, is smudged under a blanket of smog that has spilled across international borders – to Singapore, Manila, Kuala Lumpur.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
That ended with a multi-billion-dollar settlement and court case that spilled some of the family's secrets into the public domain.
From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026
He recognized the shirt he had worn yesterday, and he recognized the chocolate milk he had spilled on that shirt at dinner last night.
From "All About Sam" by Lois Lowry
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
Following a surprise defeat by England in round two, Galthie has opted for a 7-1 bench spilt, which helped inflict an 11-try hammering of Italy.
From BBC ● Mar. 10, 2025
In another clip, we see a man scrabbling in the roadway to gather up spilt flour.
From BBC ● Feb. 29, 2024
How skillfully he dried them when the song came to a pause! threw back his mantle, spilt his gout of wine!
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
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
When neutrophils encounter pathogens, they can release toxic substances and even destroy themselves, spilling long strands of biological material that form web-like traps around invading microbes.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 3, 2026
But clashes continue in the south and west, with mounting evidence that the war is spilling across Sudan's borders.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
That strength ends up spilling over, to some degree, to other truck modalities, such as refrigerated trucks and dry-van trucking, he said.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 28, 2026
It got so big it took up almost the whole living room and was spilling into the hallway.
From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan
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.
