| spill | 1. To destroy; to kill; to put an end to. "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. "They [the colours] 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. 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. 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, a rope used for spilling, or dislodging, the wind from the belly of a sail. Spill, n. An instance of spilling. Oil spill, an accidental release of oil, usually into the ocean, due to damage to an oil tanker or uncontrolled release from an underwater well. Origin: 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. To cover or decorate with slender pieces of wood, metal, ivory, etc.; to inlay. Origin: Spilt; Spilling. 1. A bit of wood split off; a splinter. 2. A slender piece of anything. Specifically: A peg or pin for plugging a hole, as in a cask; a spile. A metallic rod or pin. A small roll of paper, or slip of wood, used as a lamplighter, etc. <chemical> 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. Origin: Cf. Spell a splinter. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| spiller | 1. One who, or that which, spills. 2. A kind of fishing line with many hooks; a boulter. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| spillet fishing | A system or method of fishing by means of a number of hooks set on snoods all on one line; in North America, called trawl fishing, bultow, or bultow fishing, and long-line fishing. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| spilliard fishing | A system or method of fishing by means of a number of hooks set on snoods all on one line; in North America, called trawl fishing, bultow, or bultow fishing, and long-line fishing. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| spillway | A sluiceway or passage for superfluous water in a reservoir, to prevent too great pressure on the dam. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |