SPILL


Meaning of SPILL in English

I. spill 1 S3 /spɪl/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle spilt /spɪlt/ especially British English or spilled especially American English )

[ Language: Old English ; Origin: spillan 'to kill, destroy, waste' ]

1 . [intransitive and transitive] if you spill a liquid, or if it spills, it accidentally flows over the edge of a container ⇨ pour :

Katie almost spilled her milk.

spill something down/on/over something

Oh no! I’ve spilt coffee all down my shirt!

spill on/over etc

He slipped and the wine spilled all over the carpet.

2 . [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] if people or things spill out of somewhere, they move or fall out in large numbers SYN pour

spill out/into/onto etc

Crowds from the theatre were spilling onto the street.

3 . spill the beans informal to tell something that someone else wanted you to keep a secret

4 . spill your guts American English informal to tell someone all about your private life, or about a personal secret

5 . spill blood literary to kill or wound people

⇨ cry over spilt milk at ↑ cry 1 (3)

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THESAURUS

▪ pour to make a liquid or other substance flow out of or into a container by holding it at an angle:

Jessica was pouring more wine into her glass.

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He poured me a drink.

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Raj poured some water from the jug.

▪ drizzle to pour a liquid onto food in small drops or in a small stream – often used in cooking instructions:

Drizzle a little olive oil onto the bread.

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Drizzle the lemon juice over the cake.

▪ tip to pour something out of a container by turning it upside down:

He tipped the cup of milk into the pan.

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She weighed out the flour and tipped it into the bowl.

▪ spill to accidentally make a liquid or other substance come out of a container:

Someone had spilled coffee all over the carpet.

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The tanker was leaking, and spilled oil into the sea.

▪ splash to pour a liquid quickly in an irregular stream:

Tony hurriedly splashed some cream in his coffee.

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Someone had splashed petrol over the steps and set light to them.

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She splashed some perfume onto her wrists.

▪ decant to pour liquid from one container into another container – a rather formal use:

Rachel decanted the shampoo into small bottles for travelling.

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He often decanted cheap whisky into bottles of more expensive brands.

spill into/onto something phrasal verb literary

if light spills onto or into something, it shines through a window, door, hole etc onto something else:

The morning light spilled into the room.

spill over phrasal verb

if a problem or bad situation spills over, it spreads and begins to affect other places, people etc

spill over into

The conflict might spill over into neighbouring towns.

II. spill 2 BrE AmE noun

[ Date: 1800-1900 ; Origin: ⇨ ↑ spill 1 ]

1 . [uncountable and countable] when you spill something, or an amount of something that is spilled:

the enormous oil spill off the southern tip of the Shetland Islands

2 . [countable] a fall from a horse, bicycle etc:

Tyson broke a rib when he took a spill on his motorcycle.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.