1. Home
2. Idioms
3. spill the beans

spill the beans

---

---

spill the beans

 and spill the works

Fig. to give away a secret or a surprise. There is a surprise party for Heidi on Wednesday. Please don't spill the beans. Paul spilled the works about Heidi's party.

See also: bean, spill

spill the beans

to let secret information become known My husband was afraid to spill the beans about the cost of his purchases.

See also: bean, spill

spill the beans

to tell people secret information It was then that she threatened to spill the beans about her affair with the president.

See also: bean, spill

spill the beans

Disclose a secret or reveal something prematurely, as in You can count on little Carol to spill the beans about the surprise. In this colloquial expression, first recorded in 1919, spill means "divulge," a usage dating from the 1500s.

See also: bean, spill

spill the beans

and spill the works

tv. to give away a secret or a surprise. There is a surprise party for Heidi on Wednesday. Please don’t spill the beans. Sorry, I didn’t mean to spill the works.

See also: bean, spill

spill the beans

To disclose a secret.

See also: bean, spill