Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

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.