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Webster 1913 Edition

Fill

Fill

,
Noun.
[See
Thill
.]
One of the thills or shafts of a carriage.
Mortimer.
Fill horse
,
a thill horse.
Shak.

Fill

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Filled
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Filling
.]
[OE.
fillen
,
fullen
, AS.
fyllan
, fr.
full
full; akin to D.
vullen
, G.
füllen
, Icel.
fylla
, Sw.
fylla
, Dan.
fylde
, Goth.
fulljan
. See
Full
,
Adj.
]
1.
To make full; to supply with as much as can be held or contained; to put or pour into, till no more can be received; to occupy the whole capacity of.
The rain also
filleth
the pools.
Ps. lxxxiv. 6.
Jesus saith unto them,
Fill
the waterpots with water. Anf they
filled
them up to the brim.
John ii. 7.
2.
To furnish an abudant supply to; to furnish with as mush as is desired or desirable; to occupy the whole of; to swarm in or overrun.
And God blessed them, saying. Be fruitful, and multiply, and
fill
the waters in the seas.
Gen. i. 22.
The Syrians
filled
the country.
1 Kings xx. 27.
3.
To fill or supply fully with food; to feed; to satisfy.
Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to
fill
so great a multitude?
Matt. xv. 33.
Things that are sweet and fat are more
filling
.
Bacon.
4.
To possess and perform the duties of; to officiate in, as an incumbent; to occupy; to hold;
as, a king
fills
a throne; the president
fills
the office of chief magistrate; the speaker of the House
fills
the chair.
5.
To supply with an incumbent;
as, to
fill
an office or a vacancy
.
A. Hamilton.
6.
(Naut.)
(a)
To press and dilate, as a sail;
as, the wind
filled
the sails
.
(b)
To trim (a yard) so that the wind shall blow on the after side of the sails.
7.
(Civil Engineering)
To make an embankment in, or raise the level of (a low place), with earth or gravel.
To fill in
,
to insert; as, he filled in the figures.
–
To fill out
,
to extend or enlarge to the desired limit; to make complete; as, to fill out a bill.
–
To fill up
,
to make quite full; to fill to the brim or entirely; to occupy completely; to complete.
“The bliss that fills up all the mind.”
Pope.
“And fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ.”
Col. i. 24.

Fill

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To become full; to have the whole capacity occupied; to have an abundant supply; to be satiated;
as, corn
fills
well in a warm season; the sail
fills
with the wind.
2.
To fill a cup or glass for drinking.
Give me some wine;
fill
full.
Shakespeare
To back and fill
. See under
Back
,
Verb.
I.
–
To fill up
,
to grow or become quite full; as, the channel of the river fills up with sand.

Fill

,
Noun.
[AS.
fyllo
. See
Fill
,
Verb.
T.
]
1.
A full supply, as much as supplies want; as much as gives complete satisfaction.
“Ye shall eat your fill.”
Lev. xxv. 19.
I’ll bear thee hence, where I may weep my
fill
.
Shakespeare

Webster 1828 Edition

Fill

FILL

,
Verb.
T.
[Gr. allied perhaps to fold and felt; to stuff; L. pilus, pileus. We are told that the Gr. to approach, signified originally to thrust or drive, L. pello, and contracted, it is rendered to fill, and is full.]
1.
Properly, to press; to crowd; to stuff. Hence, to put or pour in, till the thing will hold no more; as, to fill a basket, a bottle, a vessel.
Fill the water pots with water: and they filled them to the brim. John 2.
2.
To store; to supply with abundance.
Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas. Gen. 1.
3.
To cause to abound; to make universally prevalent.
The earth was filled with violence. Gen. 6.
4.
To satisfy; to content.
Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude? Matt. 15.
5.
To glut; to surfeit.
Things that are sweet and fat are more filing.
6.
To make plump; as, in a good season the grain is well filled. In the summer of 1816, the driest and coldest which the oldest man remembered, the rye was so well filled, that the grain protruded beyond the husk, and a shock yielded a peck more than in common years.
7.
To press and dilate on all sides or to the extremities; as, the sails were filled.
8.
To supply with liquor; to pour into; as, to fill a glass for a guest.
9.
To supply with an incumbent; as, to fill an office or vacancy.
10.
To hold; to possess and perform the duties of; to officiate in, as an incumbent; as, a king fills a throne; the president fills the office of chief magistrate; the speaker of the house fills the chair.
11.
In seamanship, to brace the sails so that the wind will bear upon them and dilate them.
To fill out, to extend or enlarge to the desired limit.
1.
To fill up, to make full.
It pours the bliss that fills up all the mind.
But in this and many other cases, the use of up weakens the force of the phrase.
2.
To occupy; to fill. Seek to fill up life with useful employments.
3.
To fill; to occupy the whole extent; as, to fill up a given space.
4.
To engage or employ; as, to fill up time.
5.
To complete; as, to fill up the measure of sin. Matt. 23.
6.
To complete; to accomplish.
And fill up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ.
Col. 1.

FILL

, v.i.
1.
To fill a cup or glass for drinking; to give to drink.
In the cup which she hath filled, fill to her double.
Rev. 18.
2.
To grow or become full. corn fills well in a warm season. A mill pond fills during the night.
3.
To glut; to satiate.
To fill up, to grow or become full. The channel of the river fills up with sand, every spring.

FILL

,
Noun.
Fullness; as much as supplies want; as much as gives complete satisfaction. Eat and drink to the fill. take your fill of joy.
The land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety. Lev. 25.

Definition 2024

Fill

Fill

See also: fill and fíll

English

Proper noun

Fill

  1. A surname​.

fill

fill

See also: Fill and fíll

English

Verb

fill ‎(third-person singular simple present fills, present participle filling, simple past and past participle filled)

  1. (transitive) To occupy fully, to take up all of.
    • c. 1761, Tobias Smollett, translator, Don Quixote, part 2, book 5, chapter 4:
      […] the drums began to thunder, the sound of trumpets filled the air, the earth trembled beneath their feet, and the hearts of the gazing multitude throbbed with suspense and expectation […]
    • c. 1860, Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, chapter 38:
      And now that I have given the one chapter to the theme that so filled my heart, and so often made it ache and ache again, I pass on, unhindered, to the event that had impended over me longer yet […] .
  2. (transitive) To add contents to (a container, cavity, or the like) so that it is full.
    • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 3, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
      My hopes wa'n't disappointed. I never saw clams thicker than they was along them inshore flats. I filled my dreener in no time, and then it come to me that 'twouldn't be a bad idee to get a lot more, take 'em with me to Wellmouth, and peddle 'em out. Clams was fairly scarce over that side of the bay and ought to fetch a fair price.
    • 1950, Arthur W. Upfield, The Bachelors of Broken Hill, chapter 11:
      She continued to frown as she filled Bony's cup and added brandy to her own.
    • 2005, Wendy Coakley-Thompson, What You Won't Do for Love, 2006 edition, ISBN 0758207484, page 10 :
      She forgave him the pain as he filled the cavity in her back molar. Three weeks later, she let him fill a more intimate cavity.
    • 2006, Gilbert Morris, Sante Fe Woman, B&H, page 95 :
      Grat Herendeen was the first man, a huge man with his bull whip coiled and over his shoulder seeming almost a part of him. He grinned at her as she filled his plate with the eggs and motioned toward the bacon. "Help yourself, Grat."
  3. To enter (something), making it full.
    • 1910 May 13, John C. Sherwin, opinion, Delashmutt et al. v. Chicago, B. & Q. R. Co. et al., reprinted in volume 126, North Western Reporter, page 359, at 360:
      In the evening of the 14th of July, there was a rainfall of 3 or 3½ inches in that locality. The water filled the ditch so full that it overflowed the levees on both sides in many places […] .
    • 2004, Peter Westen, The Logic of Consent, Ashgate, ISBN 0754624072, page 322 :
      As the crowd filled the aisles, S repeated loudly what he had announced upon entering the stadium: 'I don't want anyone to touch me, and I will call the police if anyone does.'
  4. (intransitive) To become full.
    the bucket filled with rain;  the sails fill with wind‎
  5. (intransitive) To become pervaded with something.
    My heart filled with joy.‎
  6. (transitive) To satisfy or obey (an order, request, or requirement).
    The pharmacist filled my prescription for penicillin.‎
    We can't let the library close! It fills a great need in the community.‎
  7. (transitive) To install someone, or be installed, in (a position or office), eliminating a vacancy.
    • 1866, Bedford Pim, The Negro, pages 18–19 :
      It is impossible to resist the conclusion, which experience and history tend to prove, that, the continuous movement of such a vast body of mankind has been influenced by natural laws, that, the negro has filled the position for which he is fitted by nature, and, that, his services were brought into use when the emergency arose necessitating his employment.
    • 1891 January 23, Allen Morse, opinion, Lawrence v. Hanley, reprinted in volume 47, Northwestern Reporter, page 753, at 755:
      The board of supervisors called a specal[sic] election to fill the office, and at such special election Henry C. Andrews was elected judge of probate to fill out the said term.
    Sorry, no more applicants. The position has been filled.‎
  8. (transitive) To treat (a tooth) by adding a dental filling to it.
    • a. 1891, "Intimate Diagnosis of Diseased Teeth", in Items of Interest: A Monthly Magazine of Dental Art, Science and Literature, volume 13, number 11, November 1891, page 657 :
      Be that as it may, had the disturbance continued after our having filled the molar, and presuming that nothing had been done to the bicuspid, we might have been still as far as ever from knowing where the trouble lay.
  9. (transitive) To fill or supply fully with food; to feed; to satisfy.
    • Bible, Matthew xv. 33
      Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?
    • Francis Bacon
      Things that are sweet and fat are more filling.
  10. (transitive, nautical) To trim (a yard) so that the wind blows on the after side of the sails.
  11. (transitive, slang, vulgar, of a male) To have sexual intercourse with (a female).
    Did you fill that girl last night?‎
Synonyms
  • (occupy fully, take up all of): pervade
Antonyms
  • (add contents to a container or cavity): empty
  • (to become full): empty
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Related terms
Translations

Etymology 2

From Old English fyllu, from Proto-Germanic *fullį̄. Cognate with German Fülle.

Noun

fill ‎(plural fills)

  1. (after a possessive) A sufficient or more than sufficient amount.
    Don't feed him any more: he's had his fill.
  2. An amount that fills a container.
    The mixer returned to the plant for another fill.
  3. The filling of a container or area.
    That machine can do 20 fills a minute.
    This paint program supports lines, circles, and textured fills.
  4. Inexpensive material used to occupy empty spaces, especially in construction.
    The ruins of earlier buildings were used as fill for more recent construction.
  5. (archaeology) Soil and/or human-created debris discovered within a cavity and exposed by excavation; fill soil.
  6. An embankment, as in railroad construction, to fill a hollow or ravine; also, the place which is to be filled.
  7. (music) A short passage, riff, or rhythmic sound that helps to keep the listener's attention during a break between the phrases of a melody.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Etymology 3

See thill.

Noun

fill ‎(plural fills)

  1. One of the thills or shafts of a carriage.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Mortimer to this entry?)
    • 2008, Martha E. Green, Pioneers in Pith Helmets
      It was a challenge to learn to harness him, guide him slowly back between the fills of the carriage, then to fasten the right buckles and snaps, making the harness and buggy all ready for travel to church or to town.

Albanian

Etymology 1

From Latin filum.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /fiɫ/

Noun

fill m ‎(plural fije)

  1. thread, yarn

Etymology 2

Adverb

fill

  1. at once, immediately

Catalan

Etymology

From Old Provençal filh, from Latin fīlius, from Latin fīlios ‎(“son”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁y-li-os ‎(“sucker”), a derivation from the verbal root *dʰeh₁(y)- ‎(“to suck”). Cognate to Occitan filh, French fils.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈfiʎ/
  • Rhymes: -iʎ

Noun

fill m ‎(plural fills)

  1. son

Related terms

Irish

Pronunciation

  • (Munster) IPA(key): /fʲiːlʲ/
  • (Galway) IPA(key): /fʲiːl̠ʲ/
  • (Mayo, Ulster) IPA(key): /fʲɪl̠ʲ/

Etymology 1

From Old Irish fillid ‎(“turns back”), from Proto-Celtic *wel-n-, from Proto-Indo-European *wel- ‎(“turn”); compare German walzen ‎(“roll”), Latin volvō ‎(“turn”)

Verb

fill ‎(present analytic filleann, future analytic fillfidh, verbal noun filleadh, past participle fillte)

  1. turn back
  2. return
  3. fold
  4. (biology, geology, medicine) plicate
  5. (medicine, of symptoms) recur
Conjugation
Derived terms
  • athfhill ‎(“recur; (of decimals) circulate; refold; reflect”)

Etymology 2

Non-lemma forms.

Noun

fill

  1. genitive singular of feall

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Eclipsis
fill fhill bhfill
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

  • "fill" in Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
  • “fillid” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish fillid ‎(“turns back”), from Proto-Celtic *wel-n-, from Proto-Indo-European *wel- ‎(“turn”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /fiːLʲ/

Verb

fill ‎(past dh'fhill, future fillidh, verbal noun filleadh, past participle fillte)

  1. fold; plait; twill
  2. imply
  3. contain, include

Derived terms

References

  • Faclair Gàidhlig Dwelly Air Loidhne, Dwelly, Edward (1911), Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan/The Illustrated [Scottish] Gaelic-English Dictionary (10th ed.), Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, ISBN 0 901771 92 9
  • “fillid” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.

Etymology

From a medieval diminutive of the given name Philip.

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