spill

CEFRB1

/spɪl/

verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To accidentally cause liquid or other contents to flow out.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    To overflow out of a designated area.

Examples

  • I am afraid he is going to spill the beans.

  • The tanker began to spill its cargo of oil.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
1

Also pronounced

  • [spɪɫ]
  • [spɪo̯]

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To spread out or fall out, as above.

  2. To drop something so that it spreads out or makes a mess; to accidentally pour.

  3. To mar; to damage; to destroy by misuse; to waste.

More examples

In context

  • You can wear my scarf as long as you don't spill anything on it.

  • I spilled some sticky juice on the kitchen floor.

  • Some sticky juice spilled onto the kitchen floor.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

At the busy restaurant, the clumsy waiter made the drink blank onto the floor.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

From Middle English spillen, from Old English spillan, spildan (“to kill, destroy, waste”), from Proto-West Germanic *spilþijan, from Proto-Germanic *spilþijaną (“to spoil, kill, murder”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pel- (“to sunder, split, rend, tear”). Cognate with Dutch spillen (“to use needlessly, waste”), French gaspiller ("to waste, squander" < Germanic), Bavarian spillen (“to split, cleave, splinter”), Danish spilde (“to spill, waste”), Swedish spilla (“to spill, waste”), Icelandic spilla (“to contaminate, spoil”). See also spool.