- Home
- Idioms
- spill over
spill over
spill over
1. [for a container] to overflow. I hope your bucket of water doesn't spill over. The milk glass spilled over because it was filled too full.
2. [for the contents of a container] to overflow. The bucket is too full. I don't know why the water doesn't spill over. The milk spilled over because you overfilled the glass.
spill over
to reach or influence a larger area The fighting may spill over the border and start a wider war. Layoffs in one industry often spill over into other industries.