spill

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

Old English spillan.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /spɪl/
• Rhymes: -ɪl

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 pour.

   I spilled some sticky juice onto the kitchen floor.

2. (intransitive) To spread out or fall out, as above.

   Some sticky juice spilled onto the kitchen floor.

3. (transitive) To drop something that was intended to be caught.
   • 2011 October 29, Neil Johnston, “Norwich 3 - 3 Blackburn”, 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. (obsolete) To be destroyed, ruined, or wasted; to come to ruin; to perish; to waste.
   • Chaucer

     That thou wilt suffer innocents to spill.

5. (obsolete) To be shed; to run over; to fall out, and be lost or wasted.
   • Isaac Watts

     He was so topful of himself, that he let it spill on all the company.

Derived terms

• spiller
• spill blood
• spill one's seed
• spill out
• spill over
• spill the beans

Translations

transitive: to drop something so that it spreads out

• Arabic: دلق (ar) (dalaqa), أراق (ar) ('arāqa), أسجم (ar) ('asjama)
• Aromanian: versu (rup)
• Catalan: vessar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 潑掉 (cmn), 泼掉 (cmn) (pōdiào), 潑 (cmn), 泼 (cmn) (pō), 洩漏 (cmn), 泄漏 (cmn) (xièlòu)

• Czech: rozlít (of fluid), rozsypat (solid substance)
• Danish: spilde (da)
• Dutch: morsen (nl)
• Finnish: läikyttää (fi) (small), kaataa (fi) (large), päästää (fi) (industrial scale)
• French: déverser (fr), répandre (fr), renverser (fr)
• Friulian: spandi, stranfâ

• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: verschütten (de), schütten (de)
• Hungarian: önt (hu), borít (hu), szór (hu)
• Italian: rovesciare (it), versare (it)
• Japanese: 零れる (ja) (koboreru), 零す (ja) (kobosu)
• Occitan: versar (oc)
• Portuguese: derramar (pt)
• Romanian: vărsa (ro)
• Russian: (imperfective) проливать (ru) (prolivát’), (perfective) пролить (ru) (prolít’), (imperfective) разливать (ru) (razlivát’), (perfective) разлить (ru) (razlít’)
• Spanish: derramar (es)
• Swedish: spilla (sv)

intransitive: to spread out or fall out

• Armenian: թափվել (hy) (t’ap’vel)
• Czech: rozlít se (of fluid)

• Finnish: läikkyä (fi) (small); levitä (fi) (large or affecting a wide area)
• German: sich ergießen (liquid)

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.

Translations

something that has been dropped

• Dutch: gemorste (nl) n
• Finnish: läikkyminen (fi), putoaminen (fi)
• French: déversement (fr)

• Swedish: spill (sv) n

Quotations

• For usage examples of this term, see the citations page.

Derived terms

Terms derived from the noun or verb "spill"

spill one's seed

spillway

take a spill

Anagrams

• pills

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Norwegian

Pronunciation

• IPA: /spɪl/, X-SAMPA: /spIl/
• Rhymes: -ɪl

Alternative forms

• spell

Noun

spill n

1. game, play

Inflection

    Inflection of spill

	indefinite singular	definite singular	indefinite plural	definite plural
Bokmål n	spill	spillet	spill	spilla/spillene

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Swedish

Noun

spill n

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

Declension

Declension of spill

	singular		plural
Neuter	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	spill	spillet	spill	spillen
genitive	spills	spillets	spills	spillens

Verb

spill

1. imperative of spilla.