Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Spill

Spill

(spĭl)
,
Noun.
[√170. Cf.
Spell
a splinter.]
1.
A bit of wood split off; a splinter.
[Obs. or Prov. Eng.]
2.
A slender piece of anything.
Specifically: –
(a)
A peg or pin for plugging a hole, as in a cask; a spile.
(b)
A metallic rod or pin.
(c)
A small roll of paper, or slip of wood, used as a lamplighter, etc.
(d)
(Mining)
One of the thick laths or poles driven horizontally ahead on top of a set of the main timbering in advancing a level in loose ground.

Syn. – forepole; spile{4}.
3.
A little sum of money.
[Obs.]
Ayliffe.

Spill

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Spilt
(spĭlt)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Spilling
.]
To cover or decorate with slender pieces of wood, metal, ivory, etc.; to inlay.
[Obs.]
Spenser.

Spill

(spĭl)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Spilled
(spĭld)
, or
Spilt
(spĭlt)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Spilling
.]
[OE.
spillen
, usually, to destroy, AS.
spillan
,
spildan
, to destroy; akin to Icel.
spilla
to destroy, Sw.
spilla
to spill, Dan.
spilde
, LG. & D.
spillen
to squander, OHG.
spildan
.]
1.
To destroy; to kill; to put an end to.
[Obs.]
And gave him to the queen, all at her will
To choose whether she would him save or
spill
.
Chaucer.
Greater glory think [it] to save than
spill
.
Spenser.
2.
To mar; to injure; to deface; hence, to destroy by misuse; to waste.
[Obs.]
They [the colors] disfigure the stuff and
spill
the whole workmanship.
Puttenham.
Spill
not the morning, the quintessence of day, in recreations.
Fuller.
3.
To suffer to fall or run out of a vessel; to lose, or suffer to be scattered; – applied to fluids and to substances whose particles are small and loose;
as, to
spill
water from a pail; to
spill
quicksilver from a vessel; to
spill
powder from a paper; to
spill
sand or flour
.
☞ Spill differs from pour in expressing accidental loss, – a loss or waste contrary to purpose.
4.
To cause to flow out and be lost or wasted; to shed, or suffer to be shed, as in battle or in manslaughter;
as, a man
spills
another’s blood, or his own blood
.
And to revenge his blood so justly
spilt
.
Dryden.
5.
(Naut.)
To relieve a sail from the pressure of the wind, so that it can be more easily reefed or furled, or to lessen the strain.
Spilling line
(Naut.)
,
a rope used for spilling, or dislodging, the wind from the belly of a sail.
Totten.

Spill

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To be destroyed, ruined, or wasted; to come to ruin; to perish; to waste.
[Obs.]
That thou wilt suffer innocents to
spill
.
Chaucer.
2.
To be shed; to run over; to fall out, and be lost or wasted.
“He was so topful of himself, that he let it spill on all the company.”
I. Watts.

Webster 1828 Edition

Spill

SPILL

,
Noun.
[a different orthography of spile, supra.]
1.
A small peg or pin for stopping a cask; as a vent hole stopped with a spill.
2.
A little bar or pin of iron.
3.
A little sum of money. [Not in use.]

SPILL

,
Verb.
T.
pret. spilled or spilt; pp. id.
1.
To suffer to fall or run out of a vessel; to lose to suffer to be scattered; applied only to fluids and to substances whose particles are small and loose. Thus we spill water from a pail; we spill spirit or oil from a bottle; we spill quicksilver or powders form a vessel or a paper; we spill sand or flour.
2.
To suffer to be shed; as, a man spills his own blood.
3.
To cause to flow out or lose; to shed; as, a man spills another's blood. [This is applied to cases of murder or other homicide, but not to venesection. In the later case we say, to let or take blood.]
4.
To mischief; to destroy; as, to spill the mind or soul; to spill glory; to spill forms, &c. [This application is obsolete and now improper.]
5.
TO throw away.
6.
In seamen's language, to discharge the wind out of the cavity or belly of a sail.

SPILL

, v.i.
1.
To waste; to be prodigal. [Not in use.]
2.
TO be shed; to be suffered to fall, he lost or wasted. He was so topfull of himself, that he let it spill on all the company.

Definition 2024

Spill

Spill

See also: spill

Luxembourgish

Noun

Spill n ‎(plural Spiller)

  1. game, activity
  2. toy
  3. match, game
  4. fairground ride, attraction

Related terms

spill

spill

See also: Spill

English

Verb

spill ‎(third-person singular simple present spills, present participle spilling, simple past and past participle spilled or spilt)

  1. (transitive) To drop something so that it spreads out or makes a mess; to accidentally pour.
    I spilled some sticky juice on the kitchen floor.
  2. (intransitive) To spread out or fall out, as above.
    Some sticky juice spilled onto the kitchen floor.
    • Isaac Watts
      He was so topful of himself, that he let it spill on all the company.
  3. (transitive) To drop something that was intended to be caught.
    • 2011 October 29, Neil Johnston, “Norwich 3 - 3 Blackburn”, in BBC Sport:
      That should have been that, but Hart caught a dose of the Hennessey wobbles and spilled Adlene Guedioura's long-range shot.
  4. To mar; to damage; to destroy by misuse; to waste.
    • Puttenham
      They [the colours] disfigure the stuff and spill the whole workmanship.
    • Fuller
      Spill not the morning, the quintessence of day, in recreations.
  5. (obsolete) To be destroyed, ruined, or wasted; to come to ruin; to perish; to waste.
    • Chaucer
      That thou wilt suffer innocents to spill.
  6. To cause to flow out and be lost or wasted; to shed.
    • Dryden
      to revenge his blood so justly spilt
  7. To cover or decorate with slender pieces of wood, metal, ivory, etc.; to inlay.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)
  8. (nautical) To relieve a sail from the pressure of the wind, so that it can be more easily reefed or furled, or to lessen the strain.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

spill ‎(plural spills)

  1. (countable) A mess of something that has been dropped.
  2. A fall or stumble.
    The bruise is from a bad spill he had last week.
  3. A small stick or piece of paper used to light a candle, cigarette etc by the transfer of a flame from a fire.
    • 2008, Elizabeth Bear, Ink and Steel: A Novel of the Promethean Age:
      Kit froze with the pipe between his teeth, the relit spill pressed to the weed within it.
  4. A slender piece of anything.
    1. A peg or pin for plugging a hole, as in a cask; a spile.
    2. A metallic rod or pin.
  5. (mining) One of the thick laths or poles driven horizontally ahead of the main timbering in advancing a level in loose ground.
  6. (sound recording) The situation where sound is picked up by a microphone from a source other than that which is intended.
  7. (obsolete) A small sum of money.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Ayliffe to this entry?)
  8. (Australia, politics) A declaration that the leadership of a parliamentary party is vacant, and open for re-election. Short form of leadership spill

Translations

Quotations

  • For usage examples of this term, see Citations:spill.

Derived terms

Anagrams

Gothic

Romanization

spill

  1. Romanization of 𐍃𐍀𐌹𐌻𐌻

Luxembourgish

Verb

spill

  1. second-person singular imperative of spillen

Norwegian Bokmål

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /spɪl/
  • Rhymes: -ɪl

Etymology 1

From the verb spille

Alternative forms

Noun

spill n ‎(definite singular spillet, indefinite plural spill, definite plural spilla or spillene)

  1. a game
  2. play
    ballen er ute av spill - the ball is out of play
Derived terms

See also

Etymology 2

Verb

spill

  1. imperative of spille

References

Swedish

Noun

spill n

  1. waste, unusable surplus material
  2. a spill (a mess of something spilled, dropped or leaked)

Declension

Inflection of spill 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative spill spillet spill spillen
Genitive spills spillets spills spillens

Verb

spill

  1. imperative of spilla.

Etymology

From Old High German spil, from Proto-Germanic *spilą. Cognate with German Spiel, Dutch spel.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʃpil/
    Rhymes: -il

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