Definitions for: Spill


[n] a sudden drop from an upright position; "he had a nasty spill on the ice"
[n] the act of allowing a fluid to escape
[n] a channel that carries excess water over or around a dam or other obstruction
[n] liquid that is spilled; "clean up the spills"
[v] cause or allow (a solid substance) to flow or run out or over; "spill the beans all over the table"
[v] pour out in drops or small quantities or as if in drops or small quantities; "shed tears"; "spill blood"; "God shed His grace on Thee"
[v] cause or allow (a liquid substance) to run or flow from a container; "spill the milk"; "splatter water"
[v] flow, run or fall out and become lost, as of a liquid; "The milk spilled across the floor"; "The wine spilled onto the table"



Webster (1913) Definition: Spill, n. [[root]170. Cf. Spell a splinter.]
1. A bit of wood split off; a splinter. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]

2. A slender piece of anything. Specifically:
(a) A peg or pin for plugging a hole, as in a cask; a
spile.
(b) A metallic rod or pin.
(c) A small roll of paper, or slip of wood, used as a
lamplighter, etc.
(d) (Mining) One of the thick laths or poles driven
horizontally ahead of the main timbering in advancing
a level in loose ground.

3. A little sum of money. [Obs.] --Ayliffe.


Spill, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Spilt; p. pr. & vb. n.
Spilling.]
To cover or decorate with slender pieces of wood, metal,
ivory, etc.; to inlay. [Obs.] --Spenser.


Spill, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Spilled, or Spilt; p. pr.
& vb. n. Spilling.] [OE. spillen,sually, to destroy, AS.
spillan, spildan, to destroy; akin to Icel. spilla to
destroy, Sw. spilla to spill, Dan. spilde,G. & D. spillen to
squander, OHG. spildan.]
1. To destroy; to kill; to put an end to. [Obs.]

And gave him to the queen, all at her will To choose
whether she would him save or spill. --Chaucer.

Greater glory think [it] to save than spill.
--Spenser.

2. To mar; to injure; to deface; hence, to destroy by misuse;
to waste. [Obs.]

They [the colors] disfigure the stuff and spill the
whole workmanship. --Puttenham.

Spill not the morning, the quintessence of day, in
recreations. --Fuller.

3. To suffer to fall or run out of a vessel; to lose, or
suffer to be scattered; -- applied to fluids and to
substances whose particles are small and loose; as, to
spill water from a pail; to spill quicksilver from a
vessel; to spill powder from a paper; to spill sand or
flour.

Note: Spill differs from pour in expressing accidental loss,
-- a loss or waste contrary to purpose.

4. To cause to flow out and be lost or wasted; to shed, or
suffer to be shed, as in battle or in manslaughter; as, a
man spills another's blood, or his own blood.

And to revenge his blood so justly spilt. --Dryden.

5. (Naut.) 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.

Spilling line (Naut.), a rope used for spilling, or
dislodging, the wind from the belly of a sail. --Totten.


Spill, v. i.
1. To be destroyed, ruined, or wasted; to come to ruin; to
perish; to waste. [Obs.]

That thou wilt suffer innocents to spill. --Chaucer.

2. To be shed; to run over; to fall out, and be lost or
wasted. ``He was so topful of himself, that he let it
spill on all the company.'' --I. Watts.

Synonyms: disgorge, fall, pour forth, release, run out, shed, spillage, spillway, tumble, wasteweir

See Also: brim over, conduit, course, displace, flow, flow, liquid, move, overflow, overrun, pour, run, run over, seed, slip, stream, trip, well over

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