Definition of "spill"

spill

/spɪl/

verb
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.
2. (intransitive) To spread out or fall out, as above.
  Quotations
  He was so topful of himself, that he let it spill on all the company.
  1741, I[saac] Watts, The Improvement of the Mind: Or, A Supplement to the Art of Logick: […], London: […] James Brackstone, […]
3. (transitive) To drop something that was intended to be caught.
  Quotations
  That should have been that, but Hart caught a dose of the Hennessey wobbles and spilled Adlene Guedioura's long-range shot.
  2011 October 29, Neil Johnston, “Norwich 3 - 3 Blackburn”, in BBC Sport‎
4. To mar; to damage; to destroy by misuse; to waste.
  Quotations
  They [the colours] disfigure the stuff and spill the whole workmanship.
  1589, George Puttenham, The Arte of English Poesie
  Spill not the morning (the quintessence of day) in recreations.
  1642, Thomas Fuller, The Holy State, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Roger Daniel for John Williams, […]
5. (obsolete, intransitive) To be destroyed, ruined, or wasted; to come to ruin; to perish; to waste.
  Quotations
  That thou wilt suffer innocence to spill.(please add an English translation of this quotation)
  1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Man of Lawes Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542,
6. (transitive) To cause to flow out and be lost or wasted; to shed.
  Quotations
  to revenge his Blood, ſo juſtly ſpilt,What is it leſs then to partake his guilt?
  1665, John Dryden, The Indian Emperour […]‎, London: Printed by J.M. for H. Herringman, published 1667, Act IV, scene ii, page 44
7. (transitive, slang, obsolete) To cause to be thrown from a mount, a carriage, etc.
  Quotations
  Then, not thirty feet beyond, a sudden panicky lunge to the side by his horse spilled him from the saddle.
  2007, Eric Flint, David Weber, 1634: The Baltic War
8. To cover or decorate with slender pieces of wood, metal, ivory, etc.; to inlay.
  Quotations
  And all the others pavement were with yvory spilt
  1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie
9. (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.
10. (transitive, Australian politics) To open the leadership of a parliamentary party for re-election.
11. (transitive, intransitive) To reveal information to an uninformed party.
  Quotations
  ‘You wanted to know where we were going. Follow me. I’m going to spill it.’
  1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 32
12. (of a knot) To come undone.
noun
plural spills
1. (countable) A mess of something that has been dropped.
2. A fall or stumble.
3. A small stick or piece of paper used to light a candle, cigarette etc by the transfer of a flame from a fire.
  Quotations
  Kit froze with the pipe between his teeth, the relit spill pressed to the weed within it.
  2008, Elizabeth Bear, Ink and Steel: A Novel of the Promethean Age
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.
  Quotations
  Spill or Sportule for the same from the credulous Laity
  1726, John Ayliffe, Parergon Juris Canonici Anglicani: Or, A Commentary, by Way of Supplement to the Canons and Constitutions of the Church of England. […], London: […] D. Leach, and sold by John Walthoe […]
8. (Australian politics) A declaration that the leadership of a parliamentary party is vacant, and open for re-election. Short form of leadership spill.

Definition of "spill"

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