fill
verb /fɪl/
/fɪl/
Verb Forms
Idioms Phrasal Verbspresent simple I / you / we / they fill | /fɪl/ /fɪl/ |
he / she / it fills | /fɪlz/ /fɪlz/ |
past simple filled | /fɪld/ /fɪld/ |
past participle filled | /fɪld/ /fɪld/ |
-ing form filling | /ˈfɪlɪŋ/ /ˈfɪlɪŋ/ |
- fill something Please fill this glass for me.
- to fill a space/vacuum/void
- Smoke filled the room.
- Her image filled the screen.
- The wind filled the sails.
- A Disney film can always fill cinemas (= attract a lot of people to see it).
- The school is filled to capacity.
- fill something with something She filled the page with writing.
- bags filled with household waste
- Carl took a mug and filled it to the brim with hot coffee.
- fill something + adj. Fill a pan half full of water.
- You've filled it too full.
- The room was filling quickly.
- fill with something Her eyes suddenly filled with tears.
- The room filled with smoke.
- The sails filled with wind.
Extra Examples- Mourners filled the streets.
- Fireworks filled the sky.
- Crowds filled the stadium.
- I started to write and quickly filled two pages.
- Air rushes in to fill the vacuum.
- A sculpture may fill a void at the end of a hallway.
- They have to fill containers with water from the river.
- Fill the device with purified water.
- I filled a box with books.
- She filled her pockets with sweets.
- She had filled the room with flowers.
- He seemed to fill the room with his presence.
- The sky was filled with stars.
- The drawers were all filled to the brim.
- Don't fill the cups completely full so we can add milk.
- Fill a bag full of small presents.
- She filled the kettle from the tap.
- The room soon filled with people.
- The river rose and the cellar filled with water.
- The sails began to fill.
- The school is filled to capacity—we simply can't take any more students.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- fast
- quickly
- rapidly
- …
- begin to
- seem to
- with
- be filled to capacity
- be filled to the brim (with something)
- fill something They used putty to fill the holes.
- fill something with something The crack in the wall had been filled with plaster.
Extra Examples- They stuffed cloths in the window frames to fill the cracks.
- Fill all the nail holes before you paint the wall.
- [transitive] fill something a put a filling (= a small amount of special material) in a hole in a tooth
- I need to have two teeth filled.
- fill somebody A deep joy filled me.
- fill somebody with something We were all filled with admiration for his achievements.
- fill with something His heart filled with pride.
Extra Examples- Hearing this news, he was filled with joy.
- Filled with delight to see her, they hugged her.
- I was filled with despair.
- I felt myself fill with loathing.
- Horror and disgust filled my heart.
- My heart filled with sorrow.
- She was filled with love and gratitude.
- I was filled with so much emotion I didn't know what to do.
- This news has filled us with new hope.
- His experiences have filled his heart with rage.
- You have filled your mind with hatred.
- fill something The sound of bells ringing filled the air.
- fill something with something Large windows fill the room with light.
- The streets were filled with the smell of food cooking.
Extra Examples- The smell of paint filled the air.
- A strong smell of burning filled the room.
- Sunlight fills the house.
- He walks in, and tension fills the air.
- The air is filled with birds singing.
- When she comes home, she fills the house with laughter.
- Her parents' house was always filled with music.
- a garden filled with the scent of flowers
- (in adjectives) full of the thing mentioned
- a smoke-filled room
- a fun-filled day
- [transitive] fill something to supply something that is missing
- More nurseries will be built to fill the need for high-quality childcare.
- Choose the best word to fill the gap in each sentence.
- The product has filled a gap in the market.
- She left a space in his life that nothing could fill.
Extra Examples- More reading will fill the gaps in your knowledge.
- I needed extra coaching to fill the gaps in my grasp of the subject.
- These kids use drugs to fill a hole in their lives.
- We believe we are filling a void in the educational system.
- [transitive] fill something to do a job, have a role or position, etc.
- The team needs someone to fill the role of manager.
- to fill a post/position
- He fills the post satisfactorily (= performs his duties well).
- [transitive] fill something to choose somebody for a job
- The vacancy has already been filled.
- [transitive] to use up a particular period of time doing something
- fill something How do you fill your day now that you've retired?
- Work expands to fill the time available.
- fill something up I have plenty to fill up my leisure hours.
- fill something in She went for a walk to fill in the time before her next appointment.
- [transitive] fill somebody/yourself (up) (with something) (informal) to make somebody/yourself feel unable to eat any more
- The kids filled themselves with snacks.
- [transitive] fill something if somebody fills an order or a prescription, they give the customer what they have asked for
- We need to reduce the time taken to fill orders.
see also unfilled
make full
block hole
tooth
with feeling
with smell/sound/light
-filled
a need/gap
job
time
with food
an order
Word OriginOld English fyllan (verb), fyllu (noun) of Germanic origin; related to Dutch vullen and German füllen (verbs), Fülle (noun), also to full.
Idioms
fill/fit the bill
- to be what is needed in a particular situation or for a particular purpose
- On paper, several of the applicants fit the bill.
fill your boots (informal)
- used to invite somebody to take as much as they like of something such as food, drink, etc; help yourself
fill somebody’s shoes/boots
- to do somebody’s job in an acceptable way when they are not there