spillverb [ I or T, usually + adv/prep ]
uk/spɪl/us/spɪl/spilled or UK also spilt, spilled or UK also spiltB1 to (cause to) flow, move, fall, or spread over the edge or outside the limits of something:
I spilled coffee on my silk shirt.
You've spilled something down your tie.
Let's see if I can pour the juice into the glass without spilling it.
He dropped a bag of sugar and it spilled all over the floor.
Crowds of fans spilled onto the field at the end of the game.
More examples
- Don't fill your glass too full or you'll spill it.
- If you funnel the oil into the engine, you're less likely to spill it.
- You've made me spill my drink, you prat!
- The contents of his bag spilled all over the floor.
- Josh had an accident and spilled water all over his work.
Idiom(s)
spill blood
spill the beans
spill your guts
Phrasal verb(s)
spill out
spill (sth) out
spill over
spillnoun [ C ]
uk/spɪl/us/spɪl/spill noun [ C ] (LIQUID)
an amount of something that has come out of a container:
a fuel spill on the road
Could you wipe up that spill, please?
In 1989, there was a massive oil spill in Alaska.
spill noun [ C ] (POLITICS)
Australian English politics an occasion when someone is removed from a position of power in a party or government and replaced:
The Premier will keep his job despite backbencher attempts to initiate a spill.
Idiom(s)
take a spill