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spill

verb · noun

Simple meaning

To drop something so that it spreads out or makes a mess.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

spil
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈspɪl

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. transitive

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

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

  3. Flow, run or fall out and become lost

    “The milk spilled across the floor.”

  4. intransitive

    To spread out or fall out, as above.

  5. intransitivealso figurative

    To overflow or flow out, over or off something.

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

noun

  1. countable

    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 metallic rod or pin.

  6. A spillikin.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Flow, run or fall out and become lost

Used this way, spill is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Heard in a sentence
“The milk spilled across the floor.”
Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use spill

  • “I spilled some sticky juice on the kitchen floor.”verb
  • “Some sticky juice spilled onto the kitchen floor.”verb
  • “The bruise is from a bad spill he had last week.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

oil spillspill bloodspill response

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • spill the beansverbCompound term

    Divulge confidential information or secrets.

  • spill outverbCompound term

    Be disgorged.

  • spill oververbCompound term

    Overflow with a certain feeling.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • spillagenounRelated term

    The amount that has spilled.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

verb

Sense: to drop something so that it spreads out

shed

noun

Sense: mess of something that has been dropped

splatter

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.