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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