1spill1 (spɪl
)
Definitions
verb
Word forms: spills, spilling, spilt, spilled
(mainly tr) - 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 disgorged ⇒
the car spilt its passengers onto the road
the crowd spilt out of the theatre
- to shed (blood)
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 so ⇒
the Prime Minister's resignation could mean a Cabinet spill
Alternative Forms
ˈspiller nounWord Origin
Old English spillan to destroy; related to spildan, Old High German spaltan to split; see spoil2spill2 (spɪl)
Definitions
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
C13: of Germanic origin; compare Old High German spilla, Middle Dutch spile stakeTranslations
- British English:
spill
If a liquid spills or if you spill it, it accidentally flows over the edge of a container.70,000 tonnes of oil spilled from the tanker.spɪl VERB 70,000 tonnes of oil spilled from the tanker.
- Spanish:
derramar
v
- French:
renverser
v
- German:
verschütten
v
- Chinese: 溢出 vt
- Arabic: يُهْرِقُ vt
- Portuguese: derramar vt
- Russian: проливать vt
- Croatian: proliti v
- Czech: rozlít vt rozlévat
- Danish: spilde v
- Dutch: morsen vt
- Finnish: läikyttää v
- Greek: χύνω v
- Italian: versare v
- Japanese: こぼす v
- Korean: ...을 엎지르다 vt
- Norwegian: søle v
- Polish: rozlać vt rozlewać
- Brazilian Portuguese: derramar vt
- European Spanish:
derramar
v
- Swedish: spilla vt
- Thai: ทำหก vt
- Turkish: dökmek vt
- Vietnamese: làm đổ v
Usage examples
The shed doors scraped open noisily, letting filtered sunshine spill across the cold concrete floor, interrupting her introspection.
, TICKLED PINK (2002)But if you spill or sip more than half the liquid, you're disqualified.
Maxim (2004)Police said a traffic altercation forced the truck driver to hit the brakes, which caused some of his load to spill out of the vehicle.
canada.com (2004)Maier, the double Olympic champion, walked away uninjured from a spectacular spill in the second run.
Independent (1999)Getting ready to write is like carrying water round in a saucer over bumpy ground, trying not to spill a drop.
, SUNBATHING IN THE RAIN (2002)