spill

spill

¹ /spɪl/ Show Spelled [spil] Show IPA

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

1.

to cause or allow to run or fall from a container, especially accidentally or wastefully: to spill a bag of marbles; to spill milk.

2.

to shed (blood), as in killing or wounding.

3.

to scatter: to spill papers all over everything.

4.

Nautical .

a.

to let the wind out of (a sail).

b.

to lose (wind) from a sail.

5.

to cause to fall from a horse, vehicle, or the like: His horse spilled him.

 

 

Idioms

15.

spill the beans. bean (  def 11 ) .

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Origin:
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 forms

spill·a·ble, adjective, noun

non·spill·a·ble, adjective

un·spilled, adjective

 

 

World English Dictionary

spill 1  (spɪl)
— vb  (when intr, usually foll by  from, out of, etc ) , spills , spilling , spilt , spilled
1.	to fall or cause to fall from or as from a container, esp unintentionally
2.	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
3.	to shed (blood)
4.	informal  Also: spill the beans  to disclose something confidential
5.	nautical  to let (wind) escape from a sail or (of the wind) to escape from a sail
— n
6.	informal  a fall or tumble
7.	short for spillway
8.	a spilling of liquid, etc, or the amount spilt
9.	( Austral ) the declaring of several political jobs vacant when one higher up becomes so: the Prime Minister's resignation could mean a Cabinet spill
[Old English spillan  to destroy; related to spildan,  Old High German spaltan  to split; see spoil ]