Adjacent Words

Spilling line definitions

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Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Spill 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.