I. ˈspil verb
( spilled -ld, -lt ; also spilt -lt ; spilled also spilt ; spilling ; spills )
Etymology: Middle English spillen, from Old English spillan; akin to Middle Dutch spillen to waste, squander, spouden, spalden to split, Middle Low German spalden, Old High German spaltan to split, Old Norse spjald, speld square tablet, Gothic spilda tablet, Latin spolium arms or armor stripped from an enemy, Greek sphallein to cause to fall, Sanskrit sphaṭati it bursts; basic meaning: to split
transitive verb
1. archaic
a. : kill , destroy
bade her command my life to save or spill — Edmund Spenser
b. : to use or spend wastefully : waste , squander
c. : to make useless : ruin , spoil
2. : to cause (blood) to be lost by wounding
rushed into battle eager to spill their enemies' blood
3. : to cause or allow to pour, splash, or fall out (as over the edge of a container) and be wasted, lost, or scattered
fill your wine cup exactly full with a single toss of the bottle and without spilling a drop — Lafcadio Hearn
dropped the bag and spilled sugar all over the floor
felt of it and spilled the cool tea on the brick floor and filled the bowl again — Pearl Buck
2,000 plastic balloons spilled out 2,000,000 leaflets — Time
4.
a. : to relieve (a sail) from the pressure of the wind so that it can be more easily reefed or furled or to avoid capsizing or carrying away something
b. : to relieve the pressure of (wind) on a sail by coming about or by adjusting it with lines
5. : to cause to fall from one's place (as on a horse or in a vehicle) : throw off, out, or down
a bucking horse that spilled everyone who tried to ride it
6. : to give forth in an overflowing manner : pour freely
a mockingbird … was spilling his wild song over the moonlit woods — Rebecca Caudill
7. : to let out (secret information) : divulge
would double-cross me and spill some of the things I had told him — Polly Adler
intransitive verb
1. obsolete
a.
(1) : to cause death or destruction
(2) : perish , die
b. : deteriorate , spoil
2.
a. : to flow, run, or fall out, over, or off with waste, loss, or scattering as the result
don't shake the table or the coffee will spill
light spilled out through the windows — Frances & Richard Lockridge
b. : to cause or allow something to spill : waste a substance by letting it pour or fall out
ate his ice cream, careful not to spill on his new clothes
3.
a. : to spread beyond bounds
more than 1000 persons had filled the main ballroom and spilled over into adjacent parlors — Newsweek
they allow their private thoughts to spill over into public statements — Norman Cousins
b. : to come, go, or pass with a turbulent rush : pour in an unrestrained, profuse, or disorderly manner : tumble
wave after wave of shouting crowds spilled into … streets — Time
the shelves of plays, pamphlets, preface, novels, and critical works which … spilled from his pen — John Mason Brown
c. : to extend downward in precipitous or profuse disorder : descend as if overflowing
the town spills down a hillside and spreads into a valley — W.R.Moore
great swags of lilac and laburnum spill over ancient, weathered walls — advt
d. : to be full to overflowing
the sidewalks … were soon spilling over with workers — Facts about Trailer Coaches
4. : to tell secrets : betray confidences
would spill in spite of the gang's threats
5. : to fall from one's place (as on a horse or in a vehicle) : fall off, out, or down
saw the motorcycle skid and the driver spill in the dust
•
- spill the beans
II. noun
( -s )
1.
a. : an act or instance of spilling
an undirected spill of population into the suburban areas — Lewis Mumford
specifically : a fall from a place (as on a horse or in a vehicle) or an erect position (as in skiing)
failing to clear the jump, horse and rider took a nasty spill
broke his leg skiing when he took a spill at a turn
b. : an abrupt decline in price
stocks spurted most of the day then took a sharp spill in the late trading — New Orleans (La.) Times-Picayune
2.
a. : a quantity spilled
fetch a cloth to mop up the spill — Agnes M. Miall
b. or spill light : light that escapes from a concentration of theatrical or photographic light (as a spotlight cone) and produces illumination where it is not wanted
3. : spillway
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English spille, spyll; probably akin to Middle Dutch spile stake, peg — more at spile
1. : a bit of wood split off : splinter
2. : a slender piece of anything: as
a. : a metallic rod or pin on which something turns
b.
(1) : a small roll or twist of paper or slip of wood used for lighting lamps, pipes, fires
(2) : a paper sheath into which the tobacco is pushed in making a cigarette
(3) : a roll or cone of paper serving as a container (as for a bunch of flowers)
c. : a peg or pin for plugging a hole (as in a cask) : spile
3. : a scale-filled crack or seam in an ingot ; especially : a lap due to careless rolling
4. : a metal disk on a wooden rod used to remove matzoth from the oven
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: perhaps from spill (I)
archaic : a small sum of money : gratuity