spill

spill¹ S3 [spıl] v past tense and past participle spilt [spılt] especially BrE or spilled especially AmE

[: Old English; Origin: spillan 'to kill, destroy, waste']

1.) [I and T]

if you spill a liquid, or if it spills, it accidentally flows over the edge of a container

→↑pour

▪ Katie almost spilled her milk.

spill sth down/on/over sth

▪ Oh no! I've spilt coffee all down my shirt!

spill on/over etc

▪ He slipped and the wine spilled all over the carpet.

2.) [I always + adverb/preposition]

if people or things spill out of somewhere, they move or fall out in large numbers

= ↑pour spill out/into/onto etc

▪ Crowds from the theatre were spilling onto the street.

3.) spill the beans informal

to tell something that someone else wanted you to keep a secret

4.) spill your guts

AmE informal to tell someone all about your private life, or about a personal secret

5.) spill blood

literary to kill or wound people

→cry over spilt milk at ↑cry¹ (3)

spill into/onto [spill into/onto sth] phr v

if light spills onto or into something, it shines through a window, door, hole etc onto something else

▪ The morning light spilled into the room.

spill over phr v

if a problem or bad situation spills over, it spreads and begins to affect other places, people etc

spill over into

▪ The conflict might spill over into neighbouring towns.

spill ²

spill² n

[Date: 1800-1900; Origin: SPILL¹]

1.) [U and C]

when you spill something, or an amount of something that is spilled

▪ the enormous oil spill off the southern tip of the Shetland Islands

2.)

a fall from a horse, bicycle etc

▪ Tyson broke a rib when he took a spill on his motorcycle.