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What is "spill"

Crossword clues for spill

spill
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
spill
I.verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
an oil spill (=situation in which oil comes out of a ship or other container into the sea)
▪ a terrible oil spill near the Shetland Islands
spill coffee
▪ He’d accidentally spilt coffee over the table.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
down
▪ He wanted to smooth the web of hair that spilled down her back springing alive from the bones of her head.
▪ With his hand on his heart and tears spilling down his cheeks, Charles Prince pledged his allegiance to the flag.
▪ The whole mountain chain originated from this cleft as lava surged up and spilled down on both sides.
▪ Browns and beiges can be really nasty, they always look like soup has been spilled down them.
▪ The bones splintered under the force of the blow and blood spilled down his chin and the front of his jacket.
on
▪ They filled the aisle around the coffin and spilled on to the altar itself.
▪ There is now more traffic than ever on the route and any hold-ups will spill on to the surrounding routes.
▪ The amber liquid shook in the glass and some of it spilled on to the tan cloth of her Burberry.
out
▪ When we spilled out into the street a few minutes later, it was in a kind of glow.
▪ When forced to disclose the contents, roses spilled out on to the floor.
▪ The facts, which spilled out in no particular order, revealed the flip side of the fairytale.
▪ Miguel wanted to trust Firebug; he came close to letting everything spill out.
▪ Explain that the marbles have taken the place of the water that has spilled out.
▪ Time and time again the global oceans overflowed their basins and spilled out on to all of the continents.
▪ The flesh of his thighs, straining against the khaki underpants, spilled out over the sides.
▪ The questions spilled out of her.
over
▪ He reckons it will disappear by the end of 1993, so increased demand will then spill over into higher prices.
▪ When you permit these legitimate concerns to spill over into your work performance, your career often suffers.
▪ Arguments started outside the congregation may spill over into it.
▪ The prosperity is spilling over into other businesses, too.
▪ The potential for the fighting to spill over into a wider regional conflict has triggered a flurry of diplomatic activity.
▪ Its strength spilled over into dollar-yen trading, traders said.
▪ They have also developed additives which prevent the fuel from frothing so that it no longer spills over your shoes every time you fill-up.
▪ Love and joy seemed to explode inside her, threatening to spill over into cries of happiness.
■ NOUN
bean
▪ He gave me a look which made me wonder whether Mavis hadn't, after all, spilled the beans.
▪ Ludicrously, advance accounts of this novel are cheerfully spilling the beans about the rest of the plot.
▪ They spill the beans, exposing the practice for what it is.
▪ He had not been on the verge of spilling the beans - people just die, that's all.
▪ Come off it, Rosie, spill the beans.
▪ Come on, spill the beans.
▪ She might just decide to kill you, in case you spill the beans.
blood
▪ But referee Ed Morrison's leniency led to bad blood spilling over in a six-man brawl as Richards looked for revenge.
▪ In another moment, blood is being spilled on the corporate carpets as a ticket manager named Andrew Follon is fired.
▪ Pivoting on the slow death fulcrum, he felt the hot sting of his own blood spilling from him.
▪ Battles fought, blood spilled, over-theory.
▪ Within the first three minutes both men were sweating profusely, and no blood was spilled.
▪ A lot of blood gets spilled on the floors of writers.
▪ The bones splintered under the force of the blow and blood spilled down his chin and the front of his jacket.
▪ The blood spilled on to the earth under the tree.
contents
▪ An aftershave bottle spilled its contents and Scott inhaled the aroma momentarily before stepping back.
▪ Two more had burst - spilling their deadly contents.
▪ It struck his arm and fell to the floor, spilling out its dark contents.
▪ Liza laughed so much she rolled off the bed on to the chamber pot, spilling its contents on the floor.
▪ They toppled over the chain holding them in place, spilling themselves and their contents into the road.
drop
▪ It was great fun and they worked so carefully they didn't spill one single drop of sponge mixture.
▪ Interpet's clever device lets you change water without spilling a drop - we use one in the office.
▪ His paw landed in the ashtray, knocking it out of my hand and spilling the few precious drops I had caught.
floor
▪ He gulps down the food real quick, spilling bits on to the floor.
▪ When forced to disclose the contents, roses spilled out on to the floor.
▪ Some were open to reveal rolls of parchment spilling out on to the floor.
▪ A lot of blood gets spilled on the floors of writers.
▪ Quite a bit had spilled over the floor already so nobody would notice any more.
▪ She dodged to the sideboard and picked up a decanter by the neck, spilling sherry on to the floor.
gut
▪ Amid all the purple, there was cardinal and gold, spilling from guts and pouring from hearts.
▪ Albert let Rob run on till he spilled his guts, but Loulse probed.
light
▪ He glanced back up at the house, where warm orange light spilled out from the dining room into the grey afternoon.
▪ The brilliant yellow stain of kerosene light spilled itself out on the snow.
▪ Blue-green light spilled out from the mews's open door.
▪ Home was in Peckham, in the shabby house whose light spilled each evening out on to the street.
oil
▪ More than 72,000 tonnes of crude oil spilled into the estuary after the tanker ran aground in 1996.
▪ Most of the oil spilled is not from those dramatic spills.
▪ No one was injured and no oil was spilled during the incident, he said.
▪ Millions of gallons of crude oil spilled into the sea, causing widespread shore damage as well.
▪ Q.. The oil man spilled heating oil on light-gray semitransparent stained clapboards.
street
▪ When we spilled out into the street a few minutes later, it was in a kind of glow.
▪ The gate opened and dressed-up children spilled into the street, bright beads from a broken string.
▪ The buildings were tenements, normally crowded with people, many of whom were at this moment spilled along the street.
▪ Cadets in gray raincoats crushed against the iron gates and spilled into the street to cheer Buchanan.
▪ Then, to sober up, we'd spill out on to the streets and do the street-lamps until dawn.
▪ The night of their first opening, the crowd spilled out on to the street, holding wine in plastic glasses.
▪ Ulster protestantism is not contained within churches but spills out on to the streets.
tear
▪ With his hand on his heart and tears spilling down his cheeks, Charles Prince pledged his allegiance to the flag.
▪ Once again tears spilled from his eyes.
▪ My tears spill out, I am powerless to stop them.
water
▪ Drop a couple of marbles into the cup and watch the water spill over.
▪ His patronage comes from boiling water spilled on his stomach as a final torture for his unyielding faith before being beheaded.
▪ Explain that the marbles have taken the place of the water that has spilled out.
▪ Interpet's clever device lets you change water without spilling a drop - we use one in the office.
▪ Have them drop water on the penny until the water spills off.
■ VERB
let
▪ She can tell this is just harassment, and she lets him spill his speech.
▪ You let her spill that boiling water all over herself.
▪ And slowly he let his sorrows spill.
▪ Miguel wanted to trust Firebug; he came close to letting everything spill out.
▪ I let the coins spill into my palm and tossed a handful of them at the open safe.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
thrills and spills
▪ Around fifteen thousand spectators came to watch the thrills and spills ... for the organisers it proved another successful Classic.
▪ But they appreciated that getting wet was all part of the thrills and spills.
▪ The audience would love the thrills and spills with the added spice of danger.
▪ There were plenty of thrills and spills as the first round of the East Senior knockout cup got under way.
▪ This provides a safe and sheltered location in which groups of all ages can experience the thrills and spills of watersports.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ "How was the party?" "OK, but some idiot spilled wine all over my new dress."
▪ A tanker has run aground, spilling 60,000 gallons of oil into the sea.
▪ Aaron spilled all the popcorn on the floor.
▪ Careful - you'll spill it!
▪ I almost spilled my coffee.
▪ Oops, I just spilled my water.
▪ Someone had spilled red wine all over the carpet.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ I had to handle it carefully to keep from spilling it on myself.
▪ People spill back across the empty space of moonlight, and the dancers' faces merge with the crowd.
▪ Q.. The oil man spilled heating oil on light-gray semitransparent stained clapboards.
▪ Such conflicts spilled over into the immediate postwar phase.
▪ There are also times when we allow conflicts away from work to spill over into the workplace and harm our careers.
II.noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ NOUN
oil
▪ Television, oil spills and dying animals make a strong political brew.
▪ Tanker and barge owners have a financial incentive to avoid oil spills, too.
▪ It was like cleaning up after an oil spill.
▪ People have a lot to complain about. Oil spills have sullied thousands of acres.
▪ Look in your school library for information about that or other oil spills.
▪ Entire coastal bays and lagoons along the coast have been fouled by oil spills and the runoff of toxic chemicals.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
cry over spilt milk
▪ It is now too late to cry over spilt milk.
▪ It was disappointing, to say the least, but there's no point crying over spilt milk.
▪ Nora Simpson didn't believe in crying over spilt milk.
thrills and spills
▪ Around fifteen thousand spectators came to watch the thrills and spills ... for the organisers it proved another successful Classic.
▪ But they appreciated that getting wet was all part of the thrills and spills.
▪ The audience would love the thrills and spills with the added spice of danger.
▪ There were plenty of thrills and spills as the first round of the East Senior knockout cup got under way.
▪ This provides a safe and sheltered location in which groups of all ages can experience the thrills and spills of watersports.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Although the spill is the largest single oil accident in the Gulf, the waters are no strangers to pollution.
▪ But it needs constant care and attention, and spills show up on it very easily.
▪ Much use will be made of the full-cut-off lanterns, which reduce the minimum spill of light outside the highway boundaries.
▪ The Gulf spill first appeared as a slick in a satellite photograph taken at the end of March.
▪ This will facilitate the removal of surplus glue or spills.
▪ Two-person teams used to inspect fire systems and respond to spills and other emergencies in three 8-hour shifts per day.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Spill

Spill \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:

    1. A peg or pin for plugging a hole, as in a cask; a spile.

    2. A metallic rod or pin.

    3. A small roll of paper, or slip of wood, used as a lamplighter, etc.

    4. (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.

    3. An instance of spilling.

    Oil spill, an accidental release of oil, usually into the ocean, due to damage to an oil tanker or uncontrolled release from an underwater well.

Spill

Spill \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

Spill \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

Spill \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.

Related phrases:
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
spill

Old English spillan "destroy, mutilate, kill," also in late Old English "to waste," variant of spildan "destroy," from Proto-Germanic *spilthjan (cognates: Old High German spildan "to spill," Old Saxon spildian "destroy, kill," Old Norse spilla "to destroy," Danish spilde "lose, spill, waste," Middle Dutch spillen "to waste, spend"), from PIE *spel- (1) "to split, break off" (cognates: Middle Dutch spalden, Old High German spaltan "to split;" Greek aspalon "skin, hide," spolas "flayed skin;" Lithuanian spaliai "shives of flax;" Old Church Slavonic rasplatiti "to cleave, split;" Middle Low German spalden, Old High German spaltan "to split;" Sanskrit sphatayati "splits").\n

\nSense of "let (liquid) fall or run out" developed mid-14c. from use of the word in reference to shedding blood (early 14c.). Intransitive sense "to run out and become wasted" is from 1650s. Spill the beans recorded by 1910 in a sense of "spoil the situation;" 1919 as "reveal a secret." To cry for spilt milk (usually with negative) is attested from 1738. Related: Spilled; spilt; spilling.

spill

1845, originally "a throw or fall from a horse," from spill (v.). Meaning "the spilling of a liquid, amount of spilled stuff" is from 1848.

Wiktionary
spill

n. 1 (context countable English) 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. 4 A slender piece of anything. 5 # A peg or pin for plugging a hole, as in a cask; a spile. 6 # A metallic rod or pin. 7 (context mining English) One of the thick laths or poles driven horizontally ahead of the main timbering in advancing a level in loose ground. 8 (cx sound recording English) The situation where sound is picked up by a microphone from a source other than that which is intended. 9 (context obsolete English) A small sum of money. 10 (context Australia politics English) A declaration that the leadership of a parliamentary party is vacant, and open for re-election. Short form of (l en leadership spill) vb. 1 (context transitive English) To drop something so that it spreads out or makes a mess; to pour. 2 (context intransitive English) To spread out or fall out, as above. 3 (context transitive English) To drop something that was intended to be caught.

Related phrases:
WordNet
spill

  1. n. liquid that is spilled; "clean up the spills"

  2. a channel that carries excess water over or around a dam or other obstruction [syn: spillway, wasteweir]

  3. the act of allowing a fluid to escape [syn: spillage, release]

  4. a sudden drop from an upright position; "he had a nasty spill on the ice" [syn: tumble, fall]

  5. [also: spilt]

spill

  1. v. cause or allow (a liquid substance) to run or flow from a container; "spill the milk"; "splatter water" [syn: slop, splatter]

  2. flow, run or fall out and become lost; "The milk spilled across the floor"; "The wine spilled onto the table" [syn: run out]

  3. cause or allow (a solid substance) to flow or run out or over; "spill the beans all over the table" [syn: shed, disgorge]

  4. 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" [syn: shed, pour forth]

  5. reveal information; "If you don't oblige me, I'll talk!"; "The former employee spilled all the details" [syn: talk]

  6. [also: spilt]

Related phrases:
Wikipedia
Spill

A spill occurs when the contents of something, usually in liquid form, is emptied out onto a surface, person or clothes, often unintentionally.

Spill may also refer to:

  • Oil spill
  • Chemical spill
  • Data spill
  • Leadership spill
  • Spill (audio), where audio from one source is picked up by a microphone intended for a different source
  • Variable spilling, a side effect of register allocation
Spill (UK band)

Spill were a dance duo, whose members were William Orbit and Beth Orton. They released one single under the moniker, "Don't Wanna Know About Evil" in 1993, on Virgin Records, initially to the Japanese market. It was released in the UK, several years later.

Spill (audio)

Spill (also known as bleed and leakage) is the occurrence in sound recording (particularly in close miking) and live sound mixing whereby sound is picked up by a microphone from a source other than that which is intended. Spill is usually seen as a problem, and various steps are taken to avoid it or reduce it. In some styles of music, such as orchestral music, jazz, and blues, it is more likely to be accepted or even seen as desirable.

Related phrases:

Usage examples of "spill".

After passing through the catalytic reactors, the rare hydrogen allotrope was siphoned off, while the waste gases spilled back out from the hot stacks.

Tess took up the torn dress, an off-white satin gown with fine lace applique spilling over the shoulders into a free fall down the back, over the bustle, and along the edge of the train.

Covering him from the waist down, they had laid a pall of Haldane crimson worked with the royal arms, supple with silken embroidery and applique, spilling off the sides and end of the bier and over the shoulders of the knights at that end.

The top of the shaft was battlemented, and she caught splashes of color between the teeth of the stone scarps, as if flowers were massed there and spilling blossoms against the whiteness of the tower.

Somewhere a lifetime from her present moment, raucous piano music and laughter spilled out of batwing doors onto a dusty street bathed in the light of a Midwestern moon.

Telling herself that dealing with his anger herself was better than risking it spilling over to Billie was one thing.

The avalanche of gold that Blanco Ferndndez had brought forth from a nearby vault lay undisturbed where it had spilled.

Small items blew off the dresser and nightstand, and the basket flew off the table, spilling its contents across the room.

Beauty had planted there spilt over the corners of the beds at their feet, and the roses bloomed everywhere round them, silhouetted in the faint light, and the white roses were shimmers in the gloom.

I would have travelled a thousand miles for the adventures which a bounteous road that day spilled carelessly into my willing hands.

The yards, first loosed to spill the wind, were hauled round and bowsed tight so that he could pull away from the shore on a starboard tack.

He spilt the browst in the brewhouse, and made a spectacle of himself with pease-meal in the girnel.

Lilies were rocking on the sluggish reaches of the streams, and where the current quickened, tall wheels were lifting water for the fields in circles of brimming and spilling pockets.

At the sound of his voice Brine was startled and almost spilled his coffee.

If the Colonel sings, if the shy, bald Admiral is browbeaten into spilling the beans to Congress, who will look after them then?