spill
v.v. to accidentally let liquid flow over the edge of a container. You can also use this for small objects like sugar or rice that fall out of a bag.
v. to cause or allow liquid or small solid particles to fall or flow from a container unintentionally. Often used in the passive voice when describing the resulting state of a surface.
Be careful not to spill your coffee on the rug.
The waiter accidentally bumped the table, causing the wine to spill across the white tablecloth.
While the immediate cleanup of the chemical spill was successful, environmentalists remain concerned about the long-term impact on the local groundwater supply.
From Middle English spillen, from Old English spillan, spildan (“to kill, destroy, waste”), from Proto-West Germanic spilþijan, from Proto-Germanic spilþijaną (“to spoil, kill, murder”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pel- (“to sunder, split, rend, tear”). Cognate with Dutch spillen (“to use needlessly, waste”), French gaspiller ("to waste, squander" < Germanic), Bavarian spillen (“to split, cleave, splinter”), Danish spilde (“to spill, waste”), Swedish spilla (“to spill, waste”), Icelandic spilla (“to contaminate, spoil”). See also spool.
The verb is both transitive and intransitive; it can describe the person's action or the liquid's movement.
The water was spilt on the floor.The water was spilled on the floor.While 'spilt' is common in British English, 'spilled' is the standard form in American English and is generally safer for learners to use globally.