Meaning & use
spill
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Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitive
To let a liquid or loose material flow or fall out of its container by accident.
Grammar: Takes an object when you cause it, and none when it happens: I spilled the milk, the milk spilled.
Patterns
- spill something on something
- spill over
She spilled coffee on her white shirt.
The bag split and rice spilled across the floor.
Be careful not to spill the paint.
verbintransitive
To move out of a place in large numbers, as a crowd or a river does.
Grammar: Usually followed by out, into or over: fans spilled into the street.
Patterns
- spill into something
- spill out of something
People spilled out of the stadium after the match.
The river spilled over its banks.
The crowd spilled onto the sidewalk.
verbtransitiveinformal
To tell a secret or reveal private information.
Grammar: Often in spill the beans or spill the tea.
Patterns
- spill the beans
- spill a secret
Come on, spill the beans about the surprise party.
He spilled the secret to his sister.
She spilled everything about her trip to Rome.
nouncountable
An amount of liquid or material that has run out of its container.
Grammar: Often an oil spill or a spill on the floor.
Patterns
- a spill of something
- an oil spill
Please clean up the spill on the kitchen floor.
The oil spill damaged the coast.
A chemical spill closed the road.
nouncountableinformal
A fall from a horse, bicycle or similar, especially a heavy one.
Grammar: Often take a spill.
Patterns
- take a spill
He took a nasty spill off his bike.
The skier had a spill but was not hurt.
The rider's spill brought the race to a stop.
Word forms
| third person singular | spills |
|---|---|
| past tense | spilled (British: spilt) |
| past participle | spilled (British: spilt) |
| -ing form | spilling |
| plural | spills |
Common combinations
- spill the beans
- Someone spilled the beans about the surprise.
- oil spill
- Volunteers cleaned up after the oil spill.
- spill over
- The argument spilled over into the next day.
- spill out
- Toys spilled out of the box.
- spill blood
- The rebels vowed that no more blood would be spilled.
- spill the tea
- She spilled the tea about the party.
Synonyms and how they differ
- slop
- Slop suggests splashing over carelessly, while spill just means flowing out of something.
- leak
- A leak is a slow, steady escape through a hole, whereas a spill is usually sudden.
- overflow
- Overflow means going over the edge because there is too much, and spill can happen even with a small amount.
- reveal
- Reveal is the neutral, formal verb for telling information, compared with spill the beans, which is informal.
Opposites
Word family
- spillage noun
- an amount spilled, or the act of spilling
- spillover noun
- an effect that spreads beyond its first area
- spillway noun
- a channel that carries away extra water from a dam
Commonly confused: spill or spoil?
spill vs spoil
Spoil means to ruin or make worse. Spill means to let a liquid fall out.
Practice
In 'She finally spilled the beans', what did she do?
Choose one answer.
Spill the beans is an idiom meaning to reveal a secret. The other options take the phrase literally.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “spill”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.