spill

/spɪl/

//spɪl// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"spill" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“spill” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #9,103 in English word frequency and used as a verb.

#9,103
frequency rank, English
5
letters
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To drop something so that it spreads out or makes a mess; to accidentally pour.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

spill vs SPL
0% similar
spill vs spin
60% similar
spill vs spit
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for spill
PropertyValue
Headwordspill
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/spɪl/
Letters5
Frequency rank#9,103
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “spill” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). spill lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for spill is 5 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /spɪl/. Corpus data places it at rank #9,103 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 15 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for spill, with forms such as "psill", "sipll", and "spil". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "SPL", "spin", "spit", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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”). … The correct English form is spill, spelled S-P-I-L-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    To drop something so that it spreads out or makes a mess; to accidentally pour.
  2. 2
    To spread out or fall out, as above.
  3. 3
    To overflow out of a designated area.
  4. 4
    To drop something that was intended to be caught.
  5. 5
    To mar; to damage; to destroy by misuse; to waste.
  6. 6
    To be destroyed, ruined, or wasted; to come to ruin; to perish; to waste.
  7. 7
    To overflow or flow out, over or off something.
  8. 8
    To cause or flow out and be lost or wasted; to shed.
  9. 9
    To cause to be thrown from a mount, a carriage, etc.
  10. 10
    To cover or decorate with slender pieces of wood, metal, ivory, etc.; to inlay.
  11. 11
    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.
  12. 12
    To open the leadership of a parliamentary party for re-election.
  13. 13
    To reveal information to an uninformed party.
  14. 14
    To come undone.
  15. 15
    To express (something), especially repeatedly or floridly; to be expressed.

Etymology

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.

This word in other languages

derramar(Español)déverser(Français)verschütten(Deutsch)derramar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: psill,sipll,spil,splil,sppill,sspill

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of spill - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

psill2sipll2spil1splil2sppill1sspill1
Edit distance from "spill"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "spill"?
"spill" is spelled S-P-I-L-L. The IPA pronunciation is /spɪl/.
What does "spill" mean?
As a verb, "spill" means: To drop something so that it spreads out or makes a mess; to accidentally pour.
What words are commonly confused with "spill"?
"spill" is commonly confused with "SPL", "spin", "spit". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "spill"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "spill" is /spɪl/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "spill"?
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... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “spill”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is S-P-I-L-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /spɪl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “SPL” - see the side-by-side comparison. spill vs SPL
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list