1. [n]  a sudden drop from an upright position; "he had a nasty spill on the ice"
2. [n]  the act of allowing a fluid to escape
3. [n]  a channel that carries excess water over or around a dam or other obstruction
4. [n]  liquid that is spilled; "clean up the spills"
5. [v]  cause or allow (a solid substance) to flow or run out or over; "spill the beans all over the table"
6. [v]  pour out in drops or small quantities or as if in drops or small quantities; "shed tears"; "spill blood"; "God shed His grace on Thee"
7. [v]  cause or allow (a liquid substance) to run or flow from a container; "spill the milk"; "splatter water"
8. [v]  flow, run or fall out and become lost, as of a liquid; "The milk spilled across the floor"; "The wine spilled onto the table"

1. \Spill\, n. [[root]170. Cf. {Spell} a splinter.]
   1. A bit of wood split off; a splinter. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]
   2. A slender piece of anything. Specifically:
      (a) A peg or pin for plugging a hole, as in a cask; a
          spile.
      (b) A metallic rod or pin.
      (c) A small roll of paper, or slip of wood, used as a
          lamplighter, etc.
      (d) (Mining) One of the thick laths or poles driven
          horizontally ahead of the main timbering in advancing
          a level in loose ground.
   3. A little sum of money. [Obs.] --Ayliffe.
   

2. \Spill\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Spilt}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Spilling}.]
   To cover or decorate with slender pieces of wood, metal,
   ivory, etc.; to inlay. [Obs.] --Spenser.
   

3. \Spill\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Spilled}, or {Spilt}; p. pr.
   & vb. n. {Spilling}.] [OE. spillen,sually, to destroy, AS.
   spillan, spildan, to destroy; akin to Icel. spilla to
   destroy, Sw. spilla to spill, Dan. spilde,G. & D. spillen to
   squander, OHG. spildan.]
   1. To destroy; to kill; to put an end to. [Obs.]
            And gave him to the queen, all at her will To choose
            whether she would him save or spill.  --Chaucer.
            Greater glory think [it] to save than spill.
                                                  --Spenser.
   2. To mar; to injure; to deface; hence, to destroy by misuse;
      to waste. [Obs.]
            They [the colors] disfigure the stuff and spill the
            whole workmanship.                    --Puttenham.
            Spill not the morning, the quintessence of day, in
            recreations.                          --Fuller.
   3. To suffer to fall or run out of a vessel; to lose, or
      suffer to be scattered; -- applied to fluids and to
      substances whose particles are small and loose; as, to
      spill water from a pail; to spill quicksilver from a
      vessel; to spill powder from a paper; to spill sand or
      flour.
   Note: Spill differs from pour in expressing accidental loss,
         -- a loss or waste contrary to purpose.
   4. To cause to flow out and be lost or wasted; to shed, or
      suffer to be shed, as in battle or in manslaughter; as, a
      man spills another's blood, or his own blood.
            And to revenge his blood so justly spilt. --Dryden.
   5. (Naut.) To relieve a sail from the pressure of the wind,
      so that it can be more easily reefed or furled, or to
      lessen the strain.
   {Spilling line} (Naut.), a rope used for spilling, or
      dislodging, the wind from the belly of a sail. --Totten.
   

4. \Spill\, v. i.
   1. To be destroyed, ruined, or wasted; to come to ruin; to
      perish; to waste. [Obs.]
            That thou wilt suffer innocents to spill. --Chaucer.
   2. To be shed; to run over; to fall out, and be lost or
      wasted. ``He was so topful of himself, that he let it
      spill on all the company.'' --I. Watts.
   

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