Spilled

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Spill \Spill\ (sp[i^]l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Spilled}
     (sp[i^]ld), or {Spilt} (sp[i^]lt); p. pr. & vb. n.
     {Spilling}.] [OE. spillen, usually, to destroy, AS. spillan,
     spildan, to destroy; akin to Icel. spilla to destroy, Sw.
     spilla to spill, Dan. spilde, LG. & D. spillen to squander,
     OHG. spildan.]


     1. To destroy; to kill; to put an end to. [Obs.]
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              And gave him to the queen, all at her will
              To choose whether she would him save or spill.
                                                    --Chaucer.
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              Greater glory think [it] to save than spill.
                                                    --Spenser.
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     2. To mar; to injure; to deface; hence, to destroy by misuse;
        to waste. [Obs.]
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              They [the colors] disfigure the stuff and spill the
              whole workmanship.                    --Puttenham.
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              Spill not the morning, the quintessence of day, in
              recreations.                          --Fuller.
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     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.
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     Note: Spill differs from pour in expressing accidental loss,
           -- a loss or waste contrary to purpose.
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     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.
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              And to revenge his blood so justly spilt. --Dryden.
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     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.
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     {Spilling line} (Naut.), a rope used for spilling, or
        dislodging, the wind from the belly of a sail. --Totten.
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