Library / English Dictionary

SPILL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: spilt   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A sudden drop from an upright position

Example:

he had a nasty spill on the ice

Synonyms:

fall; spill; tumble

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("spill" is a kind of...):

slip; trip (an accidental misstep threatening (or causing) a fall)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "spill"):

pratfall (a fall onto your buttocks)

wipeout (a spill in some sport (as a fall from a bicycle or while skiing or being capsized on a surfboard))

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of allowing a fluid to escape

Synonyms:

release; spill; spillage

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("spill" is a kind of...):

flow; stream (the act of flowing or streaming; continuous progression)

Derivation:

spill (pour out in drops or small quantities or as if in drops or small quantities)

spill (cause or allow (a liquid substance) to run or flow from a container)

spill (flow, run or fall out and become lost)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A channel that carries excess water over or around a dam or other obstruction

Synonyms:

spill; spillway; wasteweir

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("spill" is a kind of...):

conduit (a passage (a pipe or tunnel) through which water or electric wires can pass)

Derivation:

spill (cause or allow (a liquid substance) to run or flow from a container)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Liquid that is spilled

Example:

clean up the spills

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("spill" is a kind of...):

liquid (fluid matter having no fixed shape but a fixed volume)

Derivation:

spill (pour out in drops or small quantities or as if in drops or small quantities)

spill (cause or allow (a liquid substance) to run or flow from a container)

spill (flow, run or fall out and become lost)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Reduce the pressure of wind on (a sail)

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "spill" is one way to...):

bring down; cut; cut back; cut down; reduce; trim; trim back; trim down (cut down on; make a reduction in)

Domain category:

sailing (riding in a sailboat)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Reveal information

Example:

The former employee spilled all the details

Synonyms:

spill; talk

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "spill" is one way to...):

tell (let something be known)

Verb group:

babble; babble out; blab; blab out; let the cat out of the bag; peach; sing; spill the beans; talk; tattle (divulge confidential information or secrets)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cause or allow (a solid substance) to flow or run out or over

Example:

spill the beans all over the table

Synonyms:

disgorge; shed; spill

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "spill" is one way to...):

displace; move (cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense)

Verb group:

slop; spill; splatter (cause or allow (a liquid substance) to run or flow from a container)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "spill"):

seed (go to seed; shed seeds)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Sense 4

Meaning:

Pour out in drops or small quantities or as if in drops or small quantities

Example:

God shed His grace on Thee

Synonyms:

pour forth; shed; spill

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "spill" is one way to...):

pour (cause to run)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

spill (the act of allowing a fluid to escape)

spill (liquid that is spilled)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Cause or allow (a liquid substance) to run or flow from a container

Example:

splatter water

Synonyms:

slop; spill; splatter

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "spill" is one way to...):

displace; move (cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense)

Verb group:

disgorge; shed; spill (cause or allow (a solid substance) to flow or run out or over)

run out; spill (flow, run or fall out and become lost)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Sentence example:

The women spill water into the bowl

Derivation:

spill (the act of allowing a fluid to escape)

spill (a channel that carries excess water over or around a dam or other obstruction)

spill (liquid that is spilled)

spillage (the act of allowing a fluid to escape)

spiller (an attacker who sheds or spills blood)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Flow, run or fall out and become lost

Example:

The wine spilled onto the table

Synonyms:

run out; spill

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "spill" is one way to...):

course; feed; flow; run (move along, of liquids)

Verb group:

slop; spill; splatter (cause or allow (a liquid substance) to run or flow from a container)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "spill"):

brim over; overflow; overrun; run over; well over (flow or run over (a limit or brim))

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Sentence example:

Water and oil spill into the bowl

Derivation:

spill (the act of allowing a fluid to escape)

spill (liquid that is spilled)

Credits

 Context examples: 

However, 'the milk that is spilt cries not out afterwards,' as you say.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

He took a pill-box from his pocket, and spilled out of it a beautiful glittering diamond, one of the finest stones that I have ever seen.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Bethink ye how sad a thing it would be that the blood of the Redeemer should be spilled to no purpose.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“There’s a damnation spill coming for somebody.”

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

COS detected material from the planet's super-heated atmosphere spilling onto the star.

(Hubble Captures Blistering Pitch-Black Planet, NASA)

Nature spills it out with a lavish hand.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

These crevices could be such a good octopus environment that the booming population is forced to spill over into the dangerously warm region outside.

(Giant group of octopus moms discovered in the deep sea, National Science Foundation)

In addition to the adrenal lesions, the scientific team discovered that more than one in five dolphins that died within the Deepwater Horizon oil spill footprint had a primary bacterial pneumonia.

(Deepwater Horizon oil spill contributed to high number of Gulf dolphin deaths, NOAA)

As they swung on the turn the sled went over, spilling half its load through the loose lashings.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

The Biosafety Service Shared Resource provides technical guidance and training in biological safety issues for members of Cancer Center including biological agents handling, registration of recombinant DNA and infectious agents, handling of human materials and potentially infectious materials, decontamination and disposal of biological waste, use of biosafety equipment, clean-up of biological spills.

(Biosafety Service Shared Resource, NCI Thesaurus)